Solar Panel Installation

[Fish and Dear]

Hi all,

I am planning on installing a Renogy flexible solar panel on my 29M. I watched the installation video which shows using adhesive to attach the panel to the roof. My question is...what type of adhesive is best to use? And if you have installed a flexible panel I would love to hear your suggestions as well.

TIA,
Jeff

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Fish and Dear

Hi all,

I am planning on installing a Renogy flexible solar panel on my 29M. I watched the installation video which shows using adhesive to attach the panel to the roof. My question is...what type of adhesive is best to use? And if you have installed a flexible panel I would love to hear your suggestions as well.

TIA,
Jeff

There is a thread somewhere buried on here on how I did my flexible Renogy panels.


Basically.... I used corrugated plastic sheets I used from Home Depot to act as a heat sink and to make replacing a panel easier in the future.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coroplas...896S/205351385

I cut the corrugated sheets a little larger than the size of the solar panels. I then laid the panel over them and marked where to make holes in the plastic sheets for the 6 grommets on the panels.

I used stainless steel elevator bolts and put EternaBond Tape over the metal base of the elevator bolts on the underside of the plastic sheet so the metal was not rubbing the TPO roof.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/129/3553/92221A242


I then used EternaBond Tape to tape the plastic sheets to the roof. Once the plastic sheets were secured, I laid the solar panels on the corrugated plastic and bolted them down with stainless washer, a hex nut, a lock washer and then a wing nut.

I did that 3 years ago and so far so good. Just make sure you use enough EternBond Tape to cover all areas so wind doesn't get under the corrugated plastic and so there is enough overlap on the plastic and TPO.

[Fish and Dear]

So you didn't use any adhesive under the panel or the corrugated plastic? Just Eternabond tape to secure the plastic panel to the roof and nothing on the panel itself but the nuts and bolts...am I right?

[Judge]

I did use some two sided Eternabond under the plastic panels as well. Forgot to mention that.

Just the nuts and washers are securing the solar panels to the plastic sheets.

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by Judge

I did use some two sided Eternabond under the plastic panels as well. Forgot to mention that.

Just the nuts and washers are securing the solar panels to the plastic sheets.

Thanks!!

[GTM41261]

I did pretty much the same as Judge used corrugated plastic sheeting as a heat sync. I Put a few dabs of adhesive between the panels and sheeting then taped it all down with with Dicor Tape. That was close to two years ago.

[Fish and Dear]

Originally Posted by GTM41261

I did pretty much the same as Judge used corrugated plastic sheeting as a heat sync. I Put a few dabs of adhesive between the panels and sheeting then taped it all down with with Dicor Tape. That was close to two years ago.

So why does the panel need the heat sync rather than just securing it straight to the roof?

[GTM41261]

There are several articles and you tube videos that discuss this. The idea is that the panels will generate heat and that the airgap provided by the corrugated material will help keep them cool.

[Fish and Dear]

That makes sense. I didn't think about them generating heat.

[16ACE27]

The amount of heat solar panels generate is insignificant to the amount of heat they absorb from the sun. Because the panels are a dark color, they are hotter than the external temperature because dark colors, like black, absorb more heat. The hotter the panels get, the less efficient they are so they do need the best ability to cool off.

[Pete'sMH]

For these and other reasons I used rigid panels mounted with Z brackets that held the panels about an inch off the surface of the roof.

[Judge]

I opted not to go with rigid panels because of the added weight and when I saw how thin the wood is under the TPO (on my coach they used the same crappy wood paneling as they use for the walls under the TPO), it was going to be difficult to mount multiple panels so I could always use the aluminum studs for the mounts.

My flexibly panels have worked great for me and replacing a bad panel would be a piece of cake if I ever need to replace it.

[Pete'sMH]

They weigh very little and I was able to locate my roof “rafters” with an ordinary stud finder. Mine are stamped aluminum and I was able to attach my brackets directly into them with stainless steel screws. Pre-drilled the holes, injected Dicor into the holes before screwing, embedded the bracket in a bed of Dicor and then flooded the bracket with the stuff. Super strong mounting, good airflow, good panels and not the slightest concern about leaks.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

They weigh very little and I was able to locate my roof “rafters” with an ordinary stud finder. Mine are stamped aluminum and I was able to attach my brackets directly into them with stainless steel screws. Pre-drilled the holes, injected Dicor into the holes before screwing, embedded the bracket in a bed of Dicor and then flooded the bracket with the stuff. Super strong mounting, good airflow, good panels and not the slightest concern about leaks.

That sounds good for your application.

I have 495W so at ~12 - 14lbs for a single rigid 100W panel, my total flexible panel install is less than the weight of one rigid panel.

I also wanted to be able to position the panels wherever I wanted to best utilize space and allow for access to A/C units, etc. without having to place and mount them in locations specifically to utilize the studs.

I also don’t have to worry about leaks since I didn’t drill any holes and don’t need to worry abiut Dicor maintenance.

Ultimately it comes down to what works best for each coach and specific onjectives. Yours worked perfectly for your application and my layout worked perfectly for my application. [emoji106]

[GTM41261]

Well said Judge