Revisiting the Best Way to Attach Solar Panels to Your RV - Part 2
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- This is a follow up video (part 2 of 2) where I revisit the "best way to attach solar panels to you RV". I go into more detail about how to install the system and I answer a lot of questions that I received from the original video.
This content is broken into a Part 1 and a Part 2 (this video).
Here is a list of the components that I cover with links to where you can purchase them.
(Disclosure: Some of these are affiliate links. If you click through and purchase an item I will get a small kickback at no extra cost to you. Any little bit I can make helps build the channel and is appreciated.)
All things solar can be found at Continuous Resources (Link - tinyurl.com/y2...) at good prices and with knowledgeable support. I have purchased quite a bit from Matt and he has been super helpful when I have had questions.
Specific Items:
210 Watt Solar Panels: tinyurl.com/y8...
Adjustable Solar Panel Mounts: tinyurl.com/ya...
Strut Channel: tinyurl.com/y8...
Strut Channel Cone Nuts: tinyurl.com/y6...
More info about my full setup can be found in another video titled "My Dream RV Power System" (Link - • My Dream RV Power System! ). Links to all components covered in that video can be found in the video description.
Music: Happy Rock from Bensound.com
Thank you - I now know exactly how I will attach my panels to my RV. This is exactly what I was looking for. Great job and thank you for sharing.
I used your system very successfully on my 20' travel trailer! For three 200-watt solar panels, I bought three 10-foot sections of aluminum strut channel from Grainger Supply. I cut them down to six 5-foot sections (save a little money). I used a much wider galvanized screw that I dipped in sealant/caulk. I located the cross trusses under my curved roof that were spaced every 3 feet, making sure to attach the strut channel at those points, and about every foot the rest of the channel. I used adhesive caulk tape under each strut channel. I filled each slot on the topside of the strut channel with Dicor lap sealant, mostly so the slots can't hold water. The rest of the job was easy installing two 200-watt Rich solar panels on the roof with Renogy Til-Mounts. I ran the wires through a ABS-plastic waterproof entry gland that I drilled a hole for and mounted under the end of one of the solar panels. These were wired into my Bluetti AC200 power bank. I also mounted a third 200-watt solar panel on the strut channel with the tilter, that I use as a "mobile" panel that helped out on cloudy days to get the Bluetti fully charged. Super happy with the results! The best part about this install is knowing I can easily remove my whole solar system from my RV, and installing it into my next RV simply by installing some new strut channel on my next RV. . .
How did you locate the cross trusses?
@@joergmeyer4145 If you look from many low angles, they sort of reveal themselves. . . at least they did on my 6-year-old trailer!
Hi Jorge. In Part 1 I show how you can locate your roof trusses using the location of your roof vents and a stud finder. (czcams.com/video/aO3SSkT4CwU/video.html)
Which Bluetti did you go with? I am going to go with the AC300 and B300s.
Did you add the ability to plug into the Bluetti from inside the storage compartment while locked?
@@mikemuha7537 I have the AC200 from a couple years ago. It just sits in the corner inside my travel trailer under my desk. And thankfully it's too heavy to tip over.
I loved the idea from your year ago video about using strut channels on the RV roof for solar panel installation and used them for my solar project on my 26' Rockwood travel trailer. I installed 8 x 100 watt panels mounted on 4-10' strut channels. I did have a problem trying to find my roof trusses - I couldn't reliably locate them even with a stud finder. I ended up using molly bolts to attach the strut channels to my roof. I placed a two inch wide strip of Eternabond tape directly on the roof before mounting the strut channels to minimize wear and tear of the strut channel directly on the roof membrane. The only concern that I have with my install is that water tends to collect on the center facing edges of the strut channels because of the natural slope of the roof and the fact that the strut channels are blocking the water path to the side gutters. I sealed everything up with self leveling sealant along the whole length of the strut channels (10') and so far it seems to be holding up well with no leaks after 5000 miles of travel.
As electricians, we do use the struts as a wire channel, Unistrut makes caps and covers for the strut making them look nice with no sharp ends. Also Unistrut makes strut vinyl covered also, I don't prefer it because the vinyl eventually cracks with time and traps the rain water. I don't work for Unistrut, but their catalog of accessories are amazing, for example you could have used their 2 wheel trolley assembly P2949-EG instead of angle iron to create a variable angle to raise the solar panels.
Bravo! Excellent job man! You covered everything perfectly. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I have already done my Victron inverter and lithium batteries, the next step will be doing this. Thanks so much!
We are planning on doing this as well in two weeks. Thank you for all the extra details.
Thanks for taking the time to answer each question 👍Great videos
I used plastic zip ties, on a cargo rack, it took about 5 minutes, happy on this end.
Thanks for both part 1 & 2 as a follow up. I am no longer in the market for a trailer for us but intend to use this method for my friends class A.
You can use eternabond tape to cover and adhere the cables to the roof between segments. Also if you do cut slits on the bottom side for water to escape make sure you do that before powder coating.
Great mounting concept. The angle brackets will become more important the farther north you go and hope you can get a east-west lot and you may only be lifting one side of panels to counteract the curvature of your roof. Again great concept.
Thanks!
Hello from the high desert of New Mexico USA 🇺🇸. I plan on using 10 200 watt 12 volt PV panels on my 1967 GM TDH-4519 35 foot city transit bus mounted with uni-strut and tilt brackets. I have a idea for drainage, and that is to drill holes into the side of the uni-strut. Keep up the good work and stay safe and God bless you and your family and America 🇺🇸.
The drainage holes would have to be rather large otherwise the surface tension of the water will prevent the water from draining out. Just guesstimating, I’d say holes smaller than 3mm (1/8”) wouldn’t work well. Good idea, though.
Great ideas! Thanks! Great camera work too! I've been contemplating how to rearrange my current system and I think this is the ticket. Thanks again.
Thank you for sharing your dream come true with us! My wife & I (Turtle Toes & Cheese Belly) respectively have purchased a new 8.5x24 cargo trailer from the factory to my own specifications. Like your rig, our conversion to an RV is going to be a little more pricey than most. The design I am using for the solar array is 4 ladder racks, using your idea of utilizing the strut system mounted to the racks. I am against putting holes in the roof if I can help it. I also think that our “long or awkward” gear can be strapped to them also. Happy trails, and thanks again for the strut idea.
SAY CHEESE !!!!!!
Thank you for revisiting the install! great information 👍
i still love your mounting deal. but never use snap washers in places of important needs.
use lock tite on bare threads. use nulocks where you can use a reg nut. ( no lock tite on nylocks ).
now foe me to start saving my penny's to buy the struts for my rv roof ( i have a source for 4 good second hand panels for free.).
but yes i will get them powder coated. if nothing else just the white looks like a cleaner install.
Great job! But wondering if anyone has used cured oak 2×4s painted with hinges?
Thank you for the informative videos! I think this is the way to go but a word of caution to check with the RV manufacturer about roof construction. Many have little to no cross members but rely on 4" of foam with 1/4" Luan ply and whatever roof material they use. My point is there is really nothing to hold a screw and VHB tape on a membrane roof might be a disaster. Epoxy coated struts and hardware from a commercial electrical supply store (not Home Depot or Lowes) is far more cost effective. I think you are also correct in going with 200/250 watt panels when looking at the cost of charge controllers and other hardware. Keep up the good work and I would be interested to learn just how much more your system will generate tilting the panels!!
I’m about to do the same setup on my toy hauler. One thing I’m going to watch out for is since mine has centrally ducted AC (the ducts run through the ceiling), I’m going to use an endoscope to look around in the ceiling to make sure I don’t put a screw through one of the AC ducts.
This is a great video. Thank you. I watched the three related to roof install and I will be using many of your suggestions. I am going to take my 7.5 x 13 roof and smother it with solar panels. I will use the channel and attach it as you suggested. I will perhaps be using those "tilty-things" but I think I would modify your build just a teeny tiny bit in two ways.
The first thing is security. I would probably come up with a locking mechanism to slow a potential thief down, or at least make it look like it is not worth it. I don't really have a solution here, but It's something to consider.
The second thing is the tilting. As I watched your video I thought to myself, "there is no way I'd spend 40 minutes tilting all 8 panels them unless I was going to be parked for weeks in one location. No surprise you never utilized it. Too much work. However, maybe by running a channel on the center side (or lift side) all the way across the 4 panels secured, then maybe a wingnut fastener at both ends when not in tilt? It would add a little weight, but the system would be tight, and you'd only have to unscrew two bolts at either end of the "bank" to get your tilt.
Sorry just can't get this off my mind! lol.
With a member running across the inside length of the solar panel bank of 4 on the drivers side, all of those panels would move in unison and tight together.
Next bolt on a 24" sweep variable speed and actuator with auto shut off at termination to the front side of the panel frame that keeps to the roof. A 600# capacity all weather one would probably be ? $100? $200 tops.
Bolt the other side of the actuator to the moving part of the panel bank.
Adjust mechanical as necessary. Full close-full tilt.
Variable motor controller with shut off/reverse Cheap dial ones can be as low as maybe $15.
Wire the Actuator to the battery and the controller.
Adjust electrical as necessary. Full close-full tilt
You’d be tilting them everyday in your driveway just for fun. Wanna really get wild? Use the ASCOM in Stellarium to make them tilt automatic, lol. (I think that is probably easier said than done, and there’s probably an off the shelf solution for that)
About $250 per 4 panel bank. You wouldn’t probably recoup the watts to pay for that, but it would really be cool, and minimize your roof visits.
Excellent series of videos describing the use of the strut channel. Is the way I will go for sure. Something to note though, if you are installing 200 watt panels the adjustable panel mounts from Continuous Resources have a short bar and a long bar for each mount. The short bar will not go the whole width of a 200 watt panel. I questioned Continuous Resources about this and their answer was to mount the short bar to the roof (or strut channel in our case) and use the long bar to mount to the bottom of the panel. I wish they would have stuck with two longer bars like in the videos. I think it would have provided a better support of the larger panels.
Question: When screwing the channels into the wood rafter is there any benefit in screwing the screw 1/2 way down, back it out, fill hole with dicor or similar product and then screw the screw all the way down?
Maybe the cables "zip tied" to the channels as a alternative?
Thanks for the excellent videos
Hi John. Glad you like them!
Perfect.. less The " L" tilt channels need to be half as thick, and if I was to just vhb, I would JOIN channels at the sections... perhaps two nuts in channel and a bar?
Your second video answered my first question. I have a 25 ft Rockwood travel trailer, and I am not sure if I can get up and stand on the roof. So I will have to figure out how to raise the panels once parked.
I'm getting ready to go to soler and you have been a great help. I am going to look int o 300's, I'll let you know how it works. Bigger is not always better, but that's a man thing. lol -keith
Thank you for your videos showing this option for installing panels on the RV. I used the link for the off-grid adjustable brackets to order mine. Unfortunately, the brackets come with a 22” surface mount bracket even with the 28” panel bracket. I was told by Continuous Resources that you must specifically request the 28” surface mount brackets even though that isn’t an option on their site. They stated that you had ordered the longer surface mount brackets. You might want to add something to your link stating that you must request the longer brackets. I’m currently working with CR to find out how to get these longer brackets.
I found from the original video that 210w panels are too large for the mounts you listed. I had to purchase aluminum angle to supplement for the shorter mounting rail.
What is the reconvened screw length for mounting the strut channel to the roof?
Sorry for the double comment. How is it affecting your heating and cooling with loss/gain of radiant energy to your roof (four season question)? The drainage issue level profile roof. Use the thicker strut channel for a base and cut 1" wide by 3/8" deep every 2' or centered between every truss (take advantage of that gaping).
Great video. I haven't installed struts yet but have concern for the water. Bumber pull with same crown for left and right drainage but flat going back to front. What do you think about running struts about 30 inches long going left to right right on top of every other roof truss held on with 2 lag bolts. Then run the the 10 foot pieces across those on top of them front to back. Now you can adjust them for width for future upgrades if you mount directly to the 10 footers or put the adjustable cross pieces just like you have. That should allow the water to run off left and right. And if the spans are too far for stability connect rubber spacers over the truss with out the strut on them but don't drill into the roof on those. And if that doesn't work maybe just do the left and right struts on every truss. Any thoughts?
I am going to use your method but I’m racking my brain on how to electrically tilt the panels. There has to be an inexpensive elegant way to do it. I’m going to seal my roof next week and lay my channel thereafter..
How do you attach solar panel to tilting channel?
OK, I missed it. Where can you get the the L shape bars that attach to the solar panel and the slotted strut?
I can't find any galvanized angle iron. And the stuff I can find is zinc plated and I don't have time to powder coat things at high prices. I'm going to buy some plumbing grade galvanized pipe and drill holes in it. That'll be that what holds on to the panels. Hopefully everything works out properly 😂.
What happens to the extra power that you get from the sun KY?
You might have already answered this but I was wondering what the spacing is between strut channels
This is a dumb question with all the panels up there and if you don’t use all solar power, what happens to it
Don't see any ground wire run. Did you not ground your panels?
Where did you purchase the angle brackets. Love your technique. Randy
Thanks Randy! Links to all of the items are in the video description.
Was it hard to find your roof strut? How far apart were they?
48 min of video and no mention of how you mounted the strut to the roof
How did you secure the uni-struts on the roof? Did you find the members and trusses and put the bolts in there? Main question is: How did you make sure the panels don't take off in high winds gusts? ...and if you bolt them to the trusses, how do you find them?
Hi Joerg. Your questions are answered in Part 1 of this video series. (czcams.com/video/aO3SSkT4CwU/video.html)
@@travelnewtrails8232 I find your way with the unistruts indeed the best way to mount the panels!!! But .... the mounting of the unistrut itself to the roof is an iffy thing.
My thoughts: I need to consider the limiting case in order to prevent the panels from just flying off and killing the driver behind me. The limiting case I consider is: Top speed of my coach is 85mph (it takes a while to get there, but I have been there in Texas), now let's assume I am driving into a thunderstorm with severe wind gusts in my face of another 85mph (have had it once. Slowed down the coach dramatically). This would be a short burst of 170mph (it can go up to this speed in an instant, out of my control). Now I would like to calculate some safety into this and round it up to 200mph wind gusts which the mount of a large area solar panel (40" x 65" multiplied by 4 300W panels) has to sustain in a limiting case.
I do not believe that tape (any tape), or screws to the surface of the roof will hold this limiting case. ...and this case, as unlikely as one might think it is, will need to happen only once and kill someone (which WILL ruin my life and the victims life entirely).
I decided to bolt the struts through the entire thickness of the roof (all the way through) and secure the bolts with a flat steel rail from inside. The steel rail will distribute the load evenly to the roof stucture and employ the multiple trusses and members automatically (of which I have no way to determine where they are exactly located). Then mask the inside rail with decorative and beautiful wood. This will add a nice decorative feature and gives me peace of mind, and potentially saves a life.
To do this and keep the roof waterproof, I will apply plenty of dicor inside the hole for the bolts as well as outside where the heads of the bolts are.
This is what I am talking about: czcams.com/video/m4Jq6zNrwHY/video.html
As one can see, the brackets were just glued down. This glue will deteriorate due to weather. Even if the brackets would have been "secured" with screws, it would have ripped the screws right out as well (most likely).
Maybe this is the German in me, but I like it safe and apply appropriate engineering, having this ONE case in mind.
@@joergmeyer4145 I hope nether scenario ever happens, but since you are assuming the winds blowing the panels off and killing someone..let’s assume you get a tire blow out driving your rig at 85 mph with another 85 mph winds through a storm blowing you around during your blow out adding to your out of control rig..how many lives do you think your putting at risk? Maybe your tires are rated for that speed. I’ve had many blow outs in big heavy rigs at way lower speeds then what the tires ratings are..
How did you attach the strut channel to the roof? I've seen horror stories about the bolts ripping out the aluminum and the panel blowing off while going down the road. I have a fiberglass roof and don't want to have holes in the roof. Any Ideas.
HI Jim. I screwed the steel strut channel into the roof trusses so I feel quite comfortable with how secure they are attached. I have heard people use VHB tape to attach stuff to aluminum and fiberglass roofs. However I believe you need to be careful with water degrading the bond with VHB tape over time. You would probably want to seal it with Dicor to be safe.
😀👍
Can the panel mounts be adjusted so to tilt the solar panels both ways?
Hi Pierre. Yes, they can be tilted both ways.
When the panels come to their end of life, how do you check them to make sure they're still good?
Stick your multimeter in the ends it should match closely to what the info in the back of the solar panel states.
@@ClarkyMalarky Thanks!
How did you attach the Unistrut to the RV?
How many holes/screws did you use?
What did you use for sealing up the holes?
or you could just watch the video. I think he covered this.
Where do you get all your stuff? Hardware.
Links to all the stuff are in the video description.
Way too much rambling! Keep it shorter and to the point. I did not see when you mentioned how frequently you screwed the strut channel to the roof. Did you hit cross members? That said, great idea for mounting of solar panels which allows an easy way to get them off when necessary.
any reason you couldn't use 405 watt panels at 48 volts for $222.00
Other than size/weight and having to go 48 volts, no.
@@travelnewtrails8232
i figured the higher voltage and mounting 6 panels would be easier than mounting 20 ??
😊👍🤗 Gut
I am seeing one HUGE flaw in your 'system' ... as with the first video, you are focusing on the panels on one side. If they are raised up to face South in the winter the panels on the other side, if raised up, would be facing North ... Not even close to an ideal situation ...
There’s a HUGE flaw in your ‘thinking’. They can tilt either direction
@@OffTheBeatenPath_ , At what time is that mentioned in the video? That is a *POSSIBILITY* but that is not how they are set up. Pay attention.
@@dunexapa1016 Does he have to mention the OBVIOUS. Guess so....
@@OffTheBeatenPath_ , So, in other words, you absolutely cannot point out any time in the video where he says his panels tilt both ways .... Like that would not be worth mentioning ... right?
Did you happen to notice the panels were more to one side of the rack than the other??? Are you going to suggest he moves each panel back and forth as well?????? And you do not find it peculiar that the entire discussion is limited to the panels on one side .....
@@dunexapa1016 did he mention he drives the van too?