Replacing 80W rooftop solar with 200W

[faithie999]

I have a 2021 Surveyor 19. I will be replacing the 80 watt panel with a 200 watt panel. I got up on the roof today with my stud finder to determine how to attach the 200 watt panel. I will mount it in a transverse orientation, as the 80 watt is installed.

the brackets on the front edge appear to be screwed into a roof truss (according to my stud finder). the back edge is about 1'' aft of the neighboring truss, so the brackets must be screwed into the plywood roof. this obviously is not a problem since most of the wind force on the panel is on the front edge.

can anyone confirm my hypothesis?

the 200 watt panel is about 1/2" wider than the 80 watt so the rear brackets will definitely not be screwed into the truss but rather into the plywood.

(not germane to my question, but I also will be replacing the factory solar charger with one sized for the 200 watt panel)

thanks

[IPcamper]

I replaced the 80 watt panel on our 2022 Surveyor 19BHLE with a RichSolar 150W panel. The 80W panel's front brackets were mounted over a truss. I didn't bother to check the rear brackets, since the new panel was longer. I attached the panel with some 3M VHB mounting tape under the brackets and then screwed the brackets down. I covered the screws and edges of the brackets with Dicor. I filled the holes from the 80 bracket with dicor and a large square of Eternabond tape.


The new panel seems secure and has a few hundred miles of travel since I installed it.

[Flybob]

[QUOTE
(not germane to my question, but I also will be replacing the factory solar charger with one sized for the 200 watt panel)
[/QUOTE]
May I suggest you replace the controller with one sized for 400W. This will prevent from you purchasing another one should you add another 200W panel later on.

[faithie999]

(not germane to my question, but I also will be replacing the factory solar charger with one sized for the 200 watt panel)

Originally Posted by Flybob

May I suggest you replace the controller with one sized for 400W. This will prevent from you purchasing another one should you add another 200W panel later on.

the longer version of the plan:

I will stop at one Rich Solar 200 watt 24 volt panel on the roof, then I will also have 2x200watt 24 volt Rich Solar panels on the ground that I can angle depending on season. I will remove the factory solar controller and connect the input and output wires together so as to carry the PV output into the front storage compartment. the wiring from the roof to the controller and from the controller to the battery is 12 ga which is plenty for the 200 watts at 40 volts.

I will install a Rich Solar 40A controller inside the front storage compartment which is capable of 600 watts input. as mentioned above, i will reroute the wires from the existing controller into the storage compartment. I will connect all 3 panels in parallel and input them into the Rich Solar controller. I will also move the existing battery (Renogy 100 Ahr AGM) from the tongue into the front storage compartment. after the panels are in place I will replace the AGM battery with 2 100Ahr Weize 12v Li batteries in parallel, also in the front compartment.

I plan to transport the 2 panels for the ground on one of the bunks where they should be plenty safe.

I know there is probably room on the roof for 2 panels but we'll only need more than 1 for a couple of longer western US boondocking trips and for those trips I like the idea of being able to aim the panels at the sun for max output.

our first boondocking trip will be mid-march so I have plenty of time to get this right.

thanks

[faithie999]

Originally Posted by IPcamper

I replaced the 80 watt panel on our 2022 Surveyor 19BHLE with a RichSolar 150W panel. The 80W panel's front brackets were mounted over a truss. I didn't bother to check the rear brackets, since the new panel was longer. I attached the panel with some 3M VHB mounting tape under the brackets and then screwed the brackets down. I covered the screws and edges of the brackets with Dicor. I filled the holes from the 80 bracket with dicor and a large square of Eternabond tape.


The new panel seems secure and has a few hundred miles of travel since I installed it.

very helpful!!

thanks

[GravelRider]

Originally Posted by faithie999

I have a 2021 Surveyor 19. I will be replacing the 80 watt panel with a 200 watt panel. I got up on the roof today with my stud finder to determine how to attach the 200 watt panel. I will mount it in a transverse orientation, as the 80 watt is installed.

the brackets on the front edge appear to be screwed into a roof truss (according to my stud finder). the back edge is about 1'' aft of the neighboring truss, so the brackets must be screwed into the plywood roof. this obviously is not a problem since most of the wind force on the panel is on the front edge.

can anyone confirm my hypothesis?

the 200 watt panel is about 1/2" wider than the 80 watt so the rear brackets will definitely not be screwed into the truss but rather into the plywood.

(not germane to my question, but I also will be replacing the factory solar charger with one sized for the 200 watt panel)

thanks

What I did when I mounted my panels was to over-engineer it for peace of mind. I used 7 brackets per panel. Two in the front, two on each side, and one in the rear. And gobs and gobs of Dicor. Way overkill. But the peace of mind was worth the few extra bucks and a little extra labor. To be fair, I put in larger residential 400 watt panels, so there is going to be more wind force than 200 watt panels.

And we had considered doing the extra panels (going smaller than the large, heavy 400 watt ones) on the ground so we could angle them to the sun. However, the ease of permanent flat mounting on the roof compared to having to set up and chase the sun was worth it to us. We just sized it larger to account for being flat mounted. We also tend not to spend all that much time at camp, as we like to hike, see sights, etc., so set-and-forget flat mounted panels worked better for us. Plus, when on the road on longer trips, all the panels charge. Just something to think about.

[faithie999]

Originally Posted by GravelRider

What I did when I mounted my panels was to over-engineer it for peace of mind. I used 7 brackets per panel. Two in the front, two on each side, and one in the rear. And gobs and gobs of Dicor. Way overkill. But the peace of mind was worth the few extra bucks and a little extra labor. To be fair, I put in larger residential 400 watt panels, so there is going to be more wind force than 200 watt panels.

And we had considered doing the extra panels (going smaller than the large, heavy 400 watt ones) on the ground so we could angle them to the sun. However, the ease of permanent flat mounting on the roof compared to having to set up and chase the sun was worth it to us. We just sized it larger to account for being flat mounted. We also tend not to spend all that much time at camp, as we like to hike, see sights, etc., so set-and-forget flat mounted panels worked better for us. Plus, when on the road on longer trips, all the panels charge. Just something to think about.

where did you buy the 400 watt panel?

[GravelRider]

Originally Posted by faithie999

where did you buy the 400 watt panel?

I got mine from a local Solar installer. They're a small independent shop. They had never sold them two at a time for individual install, but they were happy to make me a deal. I bought them for $250 apiece, so 62.5 cents a watt, which I was happy with, and didn't have to deal with shipping such a large cumbersome item. You might want to look around your area and see if a local solar company will sell you some, if you're considering doing big panels.

Here are the ones I got: https://www.solarelectricsupply.com/...0w-solar-panel