Solar Panel Mounting

[rlewis]

So, I'm thinking about installing Solar on my 2015 Axis 24.1. I was wondering if anyone has been down this road before. What issues did you encounter? Any words of wisdom to impart? How thick is the roof, what size screws did you use to mount the panels to the roof? etc...

[jpmihalk]

We installed 400 watts of solar panels on the roof of our Hurricane. We used a kit from Renogy solar that included brackets and screws. We also made sure to use plenty of Dicor sealant under the brackets and over the screw heads to seal the roof penetrations. The wiring is held down by wire clamps and screws (with the Dicor assist) and where the wires go into the roof and down to the controller and batteries, we used Eternabond tape and Dicor.


Many people use existing roof holes such as vents and ducts to run their wires, we drilled into a certain spot to get the controller in the place where it was closest to the batteries, so we took extra care to seal up the entry point as completely as possible.


Additionally, we added two more group 29 batteries for a total of 4 house batteries, so we can stay boondocking for a while longer without much worry.


In all, it is an easy project, probably a 2 or 3 on a scale from 1 to 10. One of the hardest parts was getting the panels onto the roof without them dinging up the sides or the roof itself. We pre-installed the brackets onto each panel so all that needed to be done once up on the roof was to position them, dab some Dicor and then screw them in place.

[sikoriko]

For location of mounting brackets I called Thor to get a roof drawing better to know where to drill those holes. And They also sent me the side frame drawings left and right. Might want to consider getting a drawing if you don't have one

[jpmihalk]

I forgot to mention the drawings... yes, we got the structural drawing for our Hurricane early on and used them to help position the panels. There is an entire thread on how to ask Thor for those drawings.

[rlewis]

I got the drawings. I'm having a "senior" moment, what does EGS mean in the materials list?

[jpmihalk]

EGS is usually Electrogalvanized Steel in tech drawing material lists.

[rlewis]

Makes sense, Thanks

[scrubjaysnest]

This will be our winter project, haven't called yet for the roof support drawings or preferred caulking. Got all the other drawings except the roof, was referred to tech support. We use 300 watts of portable at the present time and seems to work with with the unknown batteries.