Roof solar panels - How are they fixed?

[BobG]

Originally Posted by Perry Butler

Are your middle mounts glued or are you using screws or through bolts?

I used VHB tape for all mounting brackets not on the rails.

I usually (not this year) head for the SW desert in winter and don't like to be home until some time in May. I like air conditioning and don't like RV parks so much. RV resorts don't particularly like me. They say I am too short. I am boondocking most of the time.

[BobG]

Originally Posted by Centex

Bob, can you post a source link for the rail extrusion you used?

https://www.ironridge.com/

I used IronRidge L feet, XR100 rail, and Universal Fastening Object (UFO) clamps. However, I replaced the T-bolts with hex head bolts in the UFOs.

I also used hardware and tape from AM Solar.

I used stainless steel hardware and I used the same size bolts as Escape uses for their brackets. I also backed up the underside of the fiberglass roof with a 2" or 3" square piece of 1/2" HDPE, SS fender washer, and installed the bolts from below with nuts on top. Then after the 5200 cured I cut the bolts flush with the nut. I used 3M 5200 between the HDPE block and in the bolt hole. I held the bolt with an end wrench while someone else tightened the nut down on the L-feet to keep the bolt from spinning in the while tightening the nut. 5 bolts per rail. The bolts are all inside the cabinet and penetrate the roof through the piece of wood backing that Escape installed for attaching the cabinets. I peeled the ceiling cover back and when finished, I used contact cement to reattach the ceiling liner. I used torque wrenches and tightened to specifications.

It was challenging figuring out where to drill the holes and how to install the rail to avoid conflict with the bathroom vent and to make sure the bolts fell within the width of the wood backing.

I did not use cross rails but that might be a better way if you can figure out how to work around the air conditioner and MaxFan.

There are other rail systems that I looked at but came back to the IronRidge because I could get it locally and someone else with an Escape used it. Whoever it was didn't change out the T bolts on the UFOs and had a problem with one rotating and then slipping out of the slot.

[Mike Lewis]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

And yours is now 2' higher than mine. Should have listened to your advice about those locking rings.

Ron

Not anymore-- one of my sections jammed so now it's only 16 feet high, not 20. I think I'm going to try another type of flagpole when I'm home again.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by BobG

https://www.ironridge.com/

I used IronRidge L feet, XR100 rail, and Universal Fastening Object (UFO) clamps. However, I replaced the T-bolts with hex head bolts in the UFOs.

I also used hardware and tape from AM Solar.

I used stainless steel hardware and I used the same size bolts as Escape uses for their brackets. I also backed up the underside of the fiberglass roof with a 2" or 3" square piece of 1/2" HDPE, SS fender washer, and installed the bolts from below with nuts on top. Then after the 5200 cured I cut the bolts flush with the nut. I used 3M 5200 between the HDPE block and in the bolt hole. I held the bolt with an end wrench while someone else tightened the nut down on the L-feet to keep the bolt from spinning in the while tightening the nut. 5 bolts per rail. The bolts are all inside the cabinet and penetrate the roof through the piece of wood backing that Escape installed for attaching the cabinets. I peeled the ceiling cover back and when finished, I used contact cement to reattach the ceiling liner. I used torque wrenches and tightened to specifications.

It was challenging figuring out where to drill the holes and how to install the rail to avoid conflict with the bathroom vent and to make sure the bolts fell within the width of the wood backing.

I did not use cross rails but that might be a better way if you can figure out how to work around the air conditioner and MaxFan.

There are other rail systems that I looked at but came back to the IronRidge because I could get it locally and someone else with an Escape used it. Whoever it was didn't change out the T bolts on the UFOs and had a problem with one rotating and then slipping out of the slot.

Those 160 watt panels length wise definitely are a game changer.

Good write-up and I'm sure others will follow.

Ron

[alanerickson]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

I installed a larger panel on mine, which required raising it a few inches to clear the body fiberglass...

John, are the stainless rails bolted to the trailer, or is that just tape holding them down? Thanks.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by alanerickson

John, are the stainless rails bolted to the trailer, or is that just tape holding them down? Thanks.

they are aluminum, not stainless... the original rails were bolted AND potted into the original fiberglass, thats why my marine FG guru chose to install his mounts on top of them. funny side story, he sent out the risers he'd fabricated to a local powder coat shop, and they were supposed to come back white but they came back black instead, he thought black looked better than he expected, and I concurred, so we went with it rather than a redo. This marine FG guy is way expensive, but dang he does nice work, he's done several FG repairs for me now, and you totally can't tell there was any repair work....

[alanerickson]

Originally Posted by BobG

I also used adhesive tape for intermediate brackets placed at the location of the manufacturer's mounting holes on the front and back panels.

Nice. I'm probably going to end up doing a panel I'm adding this spring the same way. What are the side brackets shown (the one on the panel)? I looked for something like this but couldn't come up with anything. Thanks.

[BobG]

Originally Posted by alanerickson

Nice. I'm probably going to end up doing a panel I'm adding this spring the same way. What are the side brackets shown (the one on the panel)? I looked for something like this but couldn't come up with anything. Thanks.

https://amsolar.com/rv-mounting-accessories/91m-35ms

https://amsolar.com/rv-solar-panel-k...ng-accessories

The Mount Adapter comes in 35mm or 40mm size and the L Feet come in different heights.

I did chose to not drill more holes in the panel frame. In order to use the Mount Adapter on the panels I had, I drilled an additional hole in the bottom of the stainless steel Mount Adapters to match the location of the panel mounting holes.

AM Solar has a video on their recommended mounting process.
https://amsolar.com/diy-rv-solar-instructions/edmounts

[alanerickson]

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't sure if those slid or how they attached. Since they are screwed into the frame, I might lean towards using rivet nuts instead.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by mfschu

Mike, Mounting rails on each side from front to back seems like a good idea to me as well. Something like a long piece of aluminum unistrut on each side. Then you can come off that with cross pieces to hold the solar panels if needed. The rail solution seems much stronger than small separate brackets.

Originally Posted by Mike Lewis

That's what I was thinking. I guess weight could be a drawback, though. In addition to panels I could put other stuff on it, like antennas, of course.

Regarding rail mounts Dan (dstreight) posted this in another thread...(the panel mounts shown in the pic were just temporary)

“FWIW/FYI, last summer I installed 4) 8020 profiles onto the front and rear roof area of our 15A using VHB 4959 (full coverage) and then 3M 5200 around the perimeter of the profiles to seal against any water intrusion to the VHB tape. Super solid.

I used the 8020 channels so I could more easily swap out panels if/when. In fact, due to the small area of the 15A roof I'll be adding a couple 200w panels using SS drawer slides mounted to the side slots of the same 8020 to augment the existing 200w panels.”

[BobG]

Originally Posted by alanerickson

Since they are screwed into the frame, I might lean towards using rivet nuts instead.

The Mount Adapters come with bolts with nyloc nuts to bolt them to the panel frame. I don't know what the screws are for. The Mount Adapters have a backing nut to accept the T-knob that AM Solar also sells. Since I would not be tilting the panels, I used SS bolts with lock washers instead of T-Knobs to attach the Mount Adapters to the L-Feet . The T-knobs are used if you want to tilt the panels for the sun angle at your camping space. They sell some bars to use with them if you want to tilt the panels.

Check out the video. It has some good information.

Bob