KZ Classic owners - Solar?

[GordonThree]

Anyone with a KZ Classic camper installed solar on your aluminum roof?

What method did you use?

The problems I see are two fold:

1) There's no cross members, no ribs in my roof. There's some support for the AC unit and that's pretty much it - the rest of the roof is held only at the edges.

2) The aluminum expands and contracts a lot as it heats and cools

To get around #1 I figured I could epoxy or otherwise chemically attach aluminum L channel to the roof, and mount the solar onto the channel... but #2 throws a wrench in that, constant expansion and contraction of the roof sheet is going to make the chemical bond fail or cause the sheet itself to fail. 3M is pretty proud of their VHB tape ... stress tests tore the aluminum sheet before the bond failed.

I could install a scaffolding of sorts across the roof, anchoring it on the edges - this idea doesn't seem ideal since those side boards are full of holes already from screws every few inches clamping down the aluminum sheet.

Maybe a peel and stick panel is the way to go? They're rubber and plastic, so they can expand and contract with the aluminum sheet, rather than fight it???

[westend]

I would bet you have some sort of rafter under the roof skin. It may only be every 2'-4' but there has to be an attachment for ceiling panels and support for a length of roof sheathing.

On my aluminum roof I used 1 1/2" U channel. The U channel crosses three rafters. I screwed a #12-1 1/2" sheet metal screw through the channel, through Eternabond tape, through the aluminum roof, and into a rafter. I followed that with a bead of Geocel caulk along the edge of the channel and to the roof. When in storage, my 235 W panel is tilted at about 60 degrees. It hasn't moved a whisker.

[scrubjaysnest]

Trailmanor owners have the same issue and have used 3M VHB 4941 with no problems for several years. AM-Solar in their professional installs also use it. I made up my own z brackets from 1 5/8 inch aluminum angle.

[Shadow_Catcher]

Our 185W high voltage panel (large) is held onto a Filon roof with 3M VHB tape. Surface prep is important and you need enough surface area. I talked with a 3M engineer for about 45 min and my ABS mounts had more than enough.