Question s regarding mounting panels on a curved roof?

[J.P.M.]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I am thinking this to death. I have about decided to duplicate what the gent in the picture did and then add L brackets on the ends of the panels.

I bet the service life and output of the panels may very well be shortened from microcracks that develop in the cells from the vehicle/road vibration and impact/shock loading of the type, intensity and duration not usually experienced by stationary panels.

[PNW_Steve]

I see a lot of RV's with solar and have not heard of folks having issues.

I guess we'll find out.

[SunEagle]

I see a lot of RV's with solar and have not heard of folks having issues.

I guess we'll find out.

I actually met someone representing a company called TinCanSolar at an RV rally a couple of weeks ago. The hardware is all made in the US and is very sturdy to handle RV roof mounting.

They cater to RV owners throughout the US and seem to make some pretty nice hardware although it is a little expensive compared to what you can find on the web but it is very heavy duty stuff.

[zamboni]

I'm late to this party but I do have another suggestion for mounting to a curved roof.

I used aluminum tube and joined it into a frame using "handrail" connectors. The frame is anchored at the edges of the roof (where there is actually more than 1/4" of wood) -- and i also added some 2x6 blocking within the roof to anchor to (i was redoing the roof before installing solar). The frame sits level, with 2-3 inches clearance to the roof at the edges, and the cross-members just kiss the crown of the roof at the center, where i have another bracket anchoring each down. The panels are then bolted to the frame. You can get these nifty nylon washers that are flat on one side and concave on the other, for bolting a flat thing to a round tube.

I know that description isn't very good...if you're interested i can probably dig up some better pics but for now the best ones i have are about halfway down in this blog post:

http://www.livesmallridefree.com/blog/off-gridable-electrical-design-part-1-solar

The resulting frame is pretty light for it's strength. I got the tubing from a local fab shop at a decent price; the "handrail" connectors were kinda pricey though. As you can see in the pics, the frame is pretty tall and presents a nontrivial "lip" to the wind, but i have not detected any issues with it in 4 years of driving, including the famously rough roads of Yukon territory and Dempster highway. I actually had a friend follow me on the interstate and film the trailer to see if there was any buffeting, bouncing, or scary harmonic vibration in the array; it appeared very solid. Will the panels last 10 years this way? 15? Maybe not. But they paid for themselves in campground fees 3 years ago...

- Jerud
------------------------------------------------------------
1220W array / 1000Ah LFP house bank
MidniteSolar Classic 150, Magnum MS2812
ME-RC, Trimetric, and JLD404
Full-time 100% electric boondocking (no propane, no genny) since 2015
2001 Fleetwood Prowler 5th wheel 25 foot, self-rebuilt
www.livesmallridefree.com

[PNW_Steve]

also, as a side note about motorhomes and roof panels - motorhomes don't use their solar panels while traveling since the Alternator is providing charging to the house battery bank, the solar is only needed when parked. Motorhomes also typically use the roof for solar since it's out of convenience - being mobile and traveling frequently tends to lean most owners toward the ease--of-use of the roof area for their panel placement. But, that's also why motorhomes and RVs don't get the most out of solar - the panels are hardly ever tilted in the 'best' direction. These same concerns come up all over the RV forums, and everyone decides what's best for their situation. Sometimes RVrs even realize that the investment into solar has no great impact, at least financially, over the long term. They already have a generator, for instant power whenever they need it, and most are 'normally' plugged-in to power when they arrive at their rv park or campground.
There are a few of us who might go several days 'off-grid', but the vast majority don't ever do more than an overnight without being plugged in. The few that are very serious about off-gridding for the long term certainly have more interest in solar, but the reality is that is doesn't provide for air conditioning, in most situations, without a huge financial investment, without many hours of true sun-hours, and with a BIG increase in battery storage over the typical RV or motorhome.

I use solar to charge my house batteries while traveling. Unless I can find a mount that will accommodate a second alternator I won't be able to charge my house batteries from an alternator.

I think that we hang out with different crowds of RVers. The folks I hang out with like to spend weeks at a time off grid. A few of them spend months at a time off grid. I will be as well. Plans are to sell the house in the Spring of 2022 and go back on the road again. I lived in my first bus for 7+ years. Six years of that was spent bouncing around the country. I managed to visit 44 states, 4 Canadian provinces and 2 Mexican states. I put almost 250k miles on it during my travels.

Perhaps that will give a more accurate picture of what I am doing.

[PNW_Steve]

Following up on an earlier post :

One poster was very concerned about galvanic corrosion. I don't see it being an issue. With steel fasters attaching steel Unistrut to the steel roof.

Where is the source of the galvanic corrosion?

Am I missing something?

[jflorey2]

Where is the source of the galvanic corrosion?

Steel fasteners on aluminum panels.