Rubber Roof Solar Panel Mounting, plethora of ideas...

No problem with these panels mounted near the front of the 5er.

IMO, screwing down the brackets is the best course. Depending on how your roof is built, screwing a 2" fastener into a wooden roof truss will keep anything from ever moving. I found mine by measuring back from a vent that was on a 16" center with the rest of the roof. A stud finder will also find the trusses from the top side. If location dictates that you fasten just through the roof sheathing, use shorter fasteners and more of them. Apply sealants under, over, and around the brackets.

Tip: If you fasten through a piece of Eternabond tape, the tape's adhesive layer tends to seal and cover the screw heads. Eternabond's video on sealing screws

Good luck with the solar, I wouldn't worry one bit about wind unless you mount the modules more than 6" above the roof. Solar charging for an RV is one of the better things I've found in the last few years.

FWIW, the brackets for this 235W module hold a four way tilting mechanism and the module:

This might help:

http://rvbprecision.com/diesel-stuff/dodge-cummins-diesel/solar-install-grey-wolf-19rr-toy-hauler.htmlhttp://rvbprecision.com/diesel-stuff/dodge-cummins-diesel/solar-install-grey-wolf-19rr-toy-hauler.html

An article on my web site on my solar installation.

Mine has one "wing" type fastener in each bracket and one number 10 or 8 screw along with dicor.

Several installs

Hi,

I would not put them on the front to catch 'extra wind' as that might rip them from the roof.

Driving at 55 will have more than enough wind over them, no matter where they are mounted. What I did was put rubber roof sealant under my mounts, and then put in 3 #10 screws through 3/16" holes in a 6" long bracket made from 2" angle aluminum.

I located the mounts so they will be under the panels once the panel is in the travel location.

My front panels are over the drivers seat, and I can hear wind going under the panels while on the freeway. IMHO they are getting way to much air, but moving them back 12" is not really practical, as they would then be to close to the antenna's.

This is my front pair of panels. 120 watt mounted on a curved roof, 102" wide.



This is the mount it is held on with three rivets into the frame, and then the bottom half is 6" long aluminum, with nutsert in the upper piece, bolt you can not see from the outside edge pointing inward.









This picture shows the bigfoot panel mount sold by RvSolarElectric for $35 a set back in 1994. I wonder what they cost today?


This picture shows the panels tilted while I was working on the roof.

Good luck,

Fred.