Attach Solar Panel to Rubber Roof?

Hi,

I would not worry about that size solar panel overcharging. It is to small to even keep up with the self discharge of most batteries.

You can attach it to the RV refrigerator top vent, with plastic ties or other screws and maybe even take off the vent cover then put a bolt on one side, nut on the other. Then run #12 wire down the refrigerator vent, then towards the battery. You have a 12 volt circuit to the refrigerator, you could tie into that circuit if you wanted.

When you upgrade to a "Real" solar panel, you will need a controller. Look at this site. SunElec.com You should be able to buy a 100 watt solar panel for about $100. Then a controller can be anything from $15 to $200. Depending on the quality and amp rating.

Fred.

Sorry, but I am also going to have to agree 15 watts is not worth the effort.

However for rubber roof mounting, I would recommend this, this and to pass your wires through the roof, this. (Amazon used to have all those parts in one kit, but I cant find it anymore on Amazon). Use Sikaflex 252 or 291 to glue them on.

Eric212 wrote:

My question was specifically about attaching it to the roof. I knew the crappy panel would be brought up immediately, haha... you guys are like piranhas.

Is this not enough to maintain batteries with no significant draw on them? I leave it parked for sometimes weeks (or a month) at a time away from shore power, just looking for maintenance here. I use shore power or my portable generator to power my 4 stage converter/charger for "real charging."

I have a solar charge controller that I will wire between the panel and the batteries, even though I wouldn't think it would even be possible to do any damage with this panel, but I'll still use it. I have 375 Amp Hours of 12V power on board.

The "luggage rack" you're seeing isn't really a luggage rack, actually just a fence like thing around the back of the roof, but since that pic was taken I took the rear portion of it off on a tree limb anyway, so consider it gone.

I guess I'll just toss it up there loose when I'm going to be parked for a while... was hoping to do something a little more permanent as to not add another step to my "set up" and "break down" routine, but no biggie.

Thanks for the input

I'm with some of the previous posts. 15W is not worth ruining the integrity of your rubber roof. I would strap it to the roof rack like suggested.

Better off with this kit to start off with...

http://www.harborfreight.com/45-watt-solar-panel-kit-68751-8527.html

What's under the rubber? I was able to locate the aluminum frame under my rubber roof using a standard stud finder.

I certainly wouldn't start drilling into your roof for such a small solar panel. Is there some way you can attack it with just cable ties to that luggage rack?

As previously mentioned over-charging is not a good thing. I killed a couple of batteries from a charger that boiled them dry. Maybe this panel won't produce enough voltage to cause that problem, but certainly something to be careful of. If you like it you could consider a good size solar panel.

I would only go to the effort of drilling into my roof if I was installing a panel of more useful wattage, i.e. 80 watts or more. That would be a more worth-while installation and would act not just as a battery maintainer but also usefully charge the battery when camping. When I went down this route I wasn't willing to commit a lot of money to solar just to try it out. So I hunted around and found a supplier who sold a whole budget package - in my case a couple of 80w panels, some good thick cable (to avoid electrical loss) and very importantly a solar charge controller (a cheapo Chinese one with amusingly translated instructions). The charge controller will control the voltage to ensure it charges the battery properly but doesn't boil it dry. After a year or so I was pleased with the results and replaced the charge controller with a more sophisticated model.

Steve.

What are you going to use for a charge controller so you don't overcharge the batteries?

Since I see the luggage rack on top of your TC, can't you just strap or bungee cord the panel to your roof when you're parked?

2oldman wrote:

Eric212 wrote:
Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

Ok. That panel is not worth the effort, unless you're just expecting it to be a trickle-charge battery maintainer.

That's exactly what I expect it to be. Just to keep the batteries charged up when I'm not using the camper and I'm storing it in a place where I can't leave it plugged in.

Eric212 wrote:
Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!

Ok. That panel is not worth the effort, unless you're just expecting it to be a trickle-charge battery maintainer.