Fasteners for solor panels

[tiogaearl31]

What type of fasteners should I use to attach two solar panels to the roof of an Eagle Cap truck camper? Each one has a bracket at each corner. They will be mounted one behind the other starting at the left front corner of the roof panel,just behind the seam of the front cap. I am concerned about the wind lift pulling the panels up. Have seen others do it but I don't know whether to use rivets or some type of screws.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
Tiogaearl

[billyg]

Hi,I have only a small 40w panel. I didn't want to make any holes in my roof. This is only a test. Considering the tiny screws that came with the panel. I scuffed up the metal roof with sand paper and went with 1/4in plastic or teflon bolts mounted with the head standing on the roof embedded in a good amount of 2 part epoxy. The head is completely covered with the epoxy with the glob about the size of a 50 cent piece. For the wire Lowes sells plastic cable clips that have tape on the back side and a channel for the wire to clip into. We drove 3000 miles and saw no problem. Maybe the larger panels would have more tie down points and this could work. Bill

[thedavidzoo]

One thing we did to help prevent the panels from catching limbs, etc. was to screw basic lightweight aluminum door thresholds from HD along the front edge so they almost touch the roof.

[Crabbypatty]

I made my own brackets by purchasing a couple of feet of corner aluminum from the hardware store. I cut them 1 inch in length and sanded off any rough edges then drilled a hole on each side. I mounted on the panels first then placed panels on the roof.Once I located them I lifted it up, added a glob of Dicor sealant then shot a screw through that. After I Dicored the screw as well. Two years still looks great.

[SCVJeff]

corvettekent wrote:
I used 3M double back tape and two #10 screws on each bracket with Dicor over the top of the bracket to seal it. They have been up there for three years with no problems.

I agree, but be specific with the tape because there are dozens of 3M tapes that won't work. VHB 4950 is the standard double sided tape for this.

[time2roll]

#10 Stainless drywall screws hold mine down just fine.

[mkasner]

I just got done installing renogy 100watt solar panel on our Lance 861. The roof wood is only 1/8" thick under the EPDM so I used well-nuts per Lances instructions (it's essentially a rubber rivet) and 1" long stainless steel screw. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-4-in-20-tpi-x-5-8-in-Brass-Expansion-Nut-814378/204275875

[hedge]

I embedded the brackets in Dicor and then used stainless screws 1" #12's, they make me a bit nervous though with the wind we get in southern AB. I kind of wish I would have used expanding moly bolts and may swap them out... although they are still there after driving through the wind all last year.


I used eternabond tape to hold the wires down.

[towpro]

Along the same subject lines, what did you hold down the wires with?
Last one I used this wire track that had double sided tape, but still had to glue that down with dicor.

[RoyB]

On my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer I am going to use the Aluminum UNISTRUT angles and fasten them to the POPUP roof from the side panels. WIll not be any screws on the top of the roof...

I am wanting to mount either two 100W or 120W paanels on each side of my fanstatic fan in the fron and maybe a 240Watt panel betwen the air conditioner and the rear of the popup...

The nature of the UNISTRUT allows you to slide the panels and should be pretty easy to use. My panels may have to be installed after I raise my POPUP roof line and lock in place because of the added weight of the panels. My electric motor may not be able to raise the roof with the panels and heavy air conditioner on the roof...

Should look something like this...










Google images..

I can either mount the aluminum unistrut along the edge of the roof or use a bracket mounted to each side of the roof...

Just didn't want to drill thru the roof of my popup...

Still in the planning stage...

Roy Ken
King George VA

[work2much]

I used the screws supplied by the manufacturer (renogy). They are 1-1/4" self tapping screws. I recommend putting a piece of eternabond tape under each bracket. The tape will protect the roof from bracket edges and the tape sort of self heals around the screw creating an extra level of protection. In addition to that I ran the screws down, backed them out filled the hole with dicor and ran the screws back down covered in dicor. After coating the feet/screws with dicor I added another layer of eternabond tape.

The screws are just tightened to snug because the roof cap isn't too thick. I wouldn't worry about them pulling off with screws, tape and dicor. Seems like overkill connection. I was told that some just attach them with tape.

[towpro]

I used that gray sticky roof stuff under each foot, plus dicore, and #10 screws. I had to hold panels out towards edge so screws would catch top of wall and not just roof plywood on the wolf creek. The Arctic fox will get them next spring.

[corvettekent]

I used 3M double back tape and two #10 screws on each bracket with Dicor over the top of the bracket to seal it. They have been up there for three years with no problems.

[deltabravo]

Rivets, NO.

Stainless steel screws are good, probably #12 maybe?

Plop some Dicor sealant under each foot as the last step prior to screwing them down, then cover the scre head and entire mounting foot with Dicor once they are all mounted.