Attaching solar to roof

Thanks suprz. Don't know why so many insisted on telling you what you had to do even after you told them what you would not do.

I don't care if you tie them to the roof like Aunt Edna was tied to the roof of the car in "Vacation".

OK, for "clarification " it is NOT my camper, and even if it was, myself and the owner agree that water is the RV killer, and don't want any more holes in his roof. The question was put forth for information only. Didn't want to start a war

TurnThePage wrote:
Double sided tape can be awesome strong. But you have to know that whatever you are taping to is going to be durable and reliable. When I prepped my EPDM roof for Eternabond tape around the edges, I caused the roof material to lift from the wood substrate in several places. If I had a solar panel taped on, it would have been a road hazard in short order.

I also don't know why the limitations for drilling or screwing. My EPDM roof is over 15 years old with two panels attached through the rubber to the roof trusses for 14 years. No leaks or other issues in that time.

If you prepped and the EPDM raised from the sub wood, that means you used a petroleum based cleaner, which is a big No No. That leaches thru the EPDM and releases the glue from the wood substrate. Even Dicor when applied will cause looseness of the EPDM at the Dicor edges. Doug

TomG2 wrote:
Lots of good answers that disregard the OP's real question, "you absolutely could NOT drill holes in your roof". He would be a good prospect for portable solar.

That is why I asked the OP why feels he cannot drill and mount the panels on the TPO/EPDM roof. AS a lot of times on these forums the OP has not responded when people ask questions. There is NO problem installing anything on a TPO/EPDM roof as long as it is done correctly. Doug

Double sided tape can be awesome strong. But you have to know that whatever you are taping to is going to be durable and reliable. When I prepped my EPDM roof for Eternabond tape around the edges, I caused the roof material to lift from the wood substrate in several places. If I had a solar panel taped on, it would have been a road hazard in short order.

I also don't know why the limitations for drilling or screwing. My EPDM roof is over 15 years old with two panels attached through the rubber to the roof trusses for 14 years. No leaks or other issues in that time.

All you naysayers of double sided 3M VHB tape have no clue.
They use that stuff to attach panels on the sides of some very tall buildings and all kinds of other stuff.

I have 2 180 watt panels attached with tape for a few years now. I tow up to 85 mph sometimes at the bottom of a hill to get momentum. I’ve driven 65 with a 40 mph headwind (that’s as fast as it would do), I have never had any problem.

People can read things any way they want. I took it that NOT was a significant part of his question. Disregarding it is fine with me. Not my question. Make all the holes you want. Could it be that it is NOT his trailer. Or NOT something he is going to keep for long. His qualification, NOT mine.

TomG2 wrote:
Lots of good answers that disregard the OP's real question, "you absolutely could NOT drill holes in your roof". He would be a good prospect for portable solar.

OP seems to imply that with the roof being EPDM or TPO he couldn't drill holes in the roof. Well, there is no reason one cannot drill holes in a EPDM or TPO roof, it's done on virtually every roof of that type at the factory. It's an issue of doing it properly to avoid leaks, which is very doable. In fact I can't image any trailer roof that hasn't had holes drilled in it for vents, skylights, fridge vent etc.

I didn't drill, I just ran the screws, but you probably mean you don't want holes.

Only option I see are portable panels, there are pros and cons to portables.

I truly don’t see the problem - I’ve had six panels screwed into my TPO roof for almost 10 years... Put caulk on each of the screw threads (24 total), then caulked over the top when done...After almost 10 years still no leaks...No, the sky is not falling.