Mount my solar panel with double sided tape????

It depends on the roof and how it was constructed. My Lance has a thin TPO membrane over 1/4" luan. Nothing to screw into and the membrane is not attached in the middle to the luan so VHB was out of the question. What worked on one person's metal or rubber roof over 1/2" plywood or particle board is not necessarily going to work on another camper unless the roof construction is identical. And it can change year to year or model to model for the same manufacturer.

I had two options that would be 100% reliable. First option was to drill 1/2" holes in the roof and use well-nuts and lots of Dicor. Second option was to make a frame from angle aluminum and fasten it with self-tapping screws to the metal framing that runs along each corner at the sides of the camper. I opted for the second option. My chances for hitting one of the two pairs of side frame's square tubes was 100%. As it turned out all my screws on all 4 tubes hit metal.

I used VHB tape, a short screw, and Dicor to mount my solar panels. Rock solid and no leaks after many miles and wind storms.

Solar Panel Installation

My solar panels have been mounted with 3M VHB tape for three years and are still stuck tight. No worries.

If you have a rubber roof (or like us a thin ally sheet roof) just sticking with tape or Sikoflex type stuff will only stick the panels to the roof covering-------If (when) the rubber/ally seperates from the roof board the panel can fly off and take a big lump of roof cover with it !
I used Sikoflex AND screws on ours
Nigel & Pamala-----lakenheath ----UK

Gaetan wrote:
I would not use double side tape for security reason, imagine if you lost a panel and it would fly into
Some one's front window, you could kill some one.
Gaetan

If something like the above happened in Washington, you'd be faced with stiff fines for an "unsecured load."

Here's some good reading about it: http://www.google.com/#q=maria+federici

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500168_162-629212.html

I would not use double side tape for security reason, imagine if you lost a panel and it would fly into
Some one's front window, you could kill some one.
Gaetan

Just finished my road trip of 1200 miles with my 3 solar panels. I used short screws with dicor lap sealant worked fine, no leaks an nothing moved. Previously I had made my own brackets that were 10 inches long, lots of surface area. The new brackets only have 2 square inches, so I was worried. But have worked well.

Yea,

I had the same first thought when RvSolarElectric.com suggested their Bigfoot brackets would stay on the roof with only roof sealant to hold them down. The bracket was about 3" X 4" and the sealant had a strong adheasion strength. So pulling the brackets off would have been difficult, but when moving them from my class C to the Class A, I only needed to remove the screws and they pealed off - fairly easy.

So no I would not recommend tape alone. The screws might only index the bracket to the roof, but they will minimize or stop vinrations that can loosen the brackets over time. Remember that the panels are not all that heavy, but in a strong wind, the win loads can exceed the panel weight by several dozen to a hundred pounds or more. Most building inspectors are more worried about solar panels lifting off a house at 45 MPH than the RV designers are.

To make my solar panel brackets, I used 6" long 2" angle aluminum from Home Depot. I drilled one 5/16" hole in one side, for a bolt going into the panel, and three each 3/16" holes for #10 screws into the roof. Yes in my case the roof is soft 1/8" thick plywood, and styrofoam under that will not hold any weight or pull back pressure. Yet my solar panles are still there - 17 years after I installed it. The rubber roof sealant is still holding them strong. I recently installed Rino Liner on top of my whole roof, and also over each solar panel bracket, even the wires on the roof. Now the whole thing is one huge peice of plastic.

Fred.