Solar panels

[Doug_C]

2014 Salem 30QBSS Solar panel install

[Doug_C]

Some pics

[RPAspey]

Looks good. You'll love the freedom of solar. Its an expensive mod, but you'll agree worth every dime.

[wwalker2984]

Here is what I did I got semi flexible solar panels and glue them to the roof of my 2015 wildcat and didn't have to drill holes


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[wickedwyrm]

How are the glued on panels holding up? I used the same panels but I also screwed them down for fear that the dicor wouldn't hold them completely over time.


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[wwalker2984]

Well so far so good I glued under the panels and all a round the edge of them I used the same stuff as they put around the vent screws I just didn't want to put holes in my brand-new trailer


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[vinmaker]

I was thinking of buying these. $137 seemed like a fair price.

250w Monocrystalline Solar Panel - Buy 250w Mono Crystalline Solar Panel Product on Alibaba.com

[Doug_C]

Don't forget the cables and control box

[stinkmonkey]

What kind of screws and mounts are people using for solar panels? I have the panels and my house is on solar so I am familiar with everything except for putting holes in the roof of my trailer. Do I need to find a support member or is the roof material sufficient? regular self tapping (tek) screws ok? How long?
Any input would be great, I am just a bit apprehensive about the drilling part. Thanks!

[Doug_C]

Salem roof is 3/8" thick, designed to walk on as we may know. I mounted my solar panels by first laying them in place, then I marked all the holes 8 holes per panel...2 per corner then I drilled 1/8" pilot holes in the marks..... then I use stainless steel 3/4" #10 self-tapping screws. I used sealant in the pilot holes, underneath the brackets, screwed the brakets down and then applied self leveling LAP sealant over top of the brackets pretty watertight. The instructions recommended using wellnuts which are somewhat difficult to find around here for some reason. My units are pretty secure and do not believe I will have any water leaks.

[wickedwyrm]

I did the same as Doug but I did line up one side of the mounts on a roof joist.


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[stinkmonkey]

Could you tell me what type or brand of mounting brackets you used and where you got them? Thanks!

[F.I.D.O.con]

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[Cattledog]

So to what degree can these larger panels supply power to larger trailers? Do you use them as a daily source or are more of a backup supply? Can you run your appliances off solar? Just curiosity it seems like such a great idea its surprising more trailers don’t have them.
Perhaps someday the manufactures will build them right into the trailers.
As a gift I received a 40 watt solar panel that hooks to my battery I will be using it for the first time the beginning of May. I just have a little A Frame so my objective when I’m not on a hydro site is to have lights, run my single cup coffee maker and occasionally listen to the radio/CD player, nothing outrageous so I’m hoping it will be sufficient.

[stinkmonkey]

I have lived off grid since 2008, and we built our house with solar. It is an awesome way to power things if the system is sized correctly. for what it sounds like you are looking for, lights and tunes should be no problem--your only issue will be the coffee maker. any electric heating element pulls a lot of power; most coffee makers are in the 1200-1500 watt range. this is a lot of power for a single battery, deep cycle or not. if you just get a drip cone for the top of your cup and cook water on the stove top you would be better off...even if your battery can handle the coffee maker occasionally, it will cycle your battery pretty darn hard. the equations for figuring out how much power you use are pretty straightforward, watts=amps*volts. that would be more useful for the inverter side like your coffee maker. there is a device called a "kill-a-watt" that is pretty handy, you just plug your device into it and it will tell you amps watts and volts. on the DC side, you can look at most anything in an RV and it will tell you amps at 12 VDC... add up your amperage, multiply by time they are in use, and you will get amp hours. compare this with both the amp hours on your battery and the output you think you will get from your 40 w panel (so that would be watts*sun hours divided by volts to give you amp hours). hope this is not too much information, feel free to pm me or post if this does not make sense.

[Doug_C]

@stinkmonkey , thats a lot of great information.

I am only using mine to run lights and other 12v utilities (ex. Heater, CO detectors etc.) when off grid to keep my batteries charged... I have added 2) 6 volt deep cycle batteries to my system.... the panels will help during storage aswell.

Eventually I will add more panels and an inverter.

[stinkmonkey]

that sounds awesome. we run our house on two strings of trojan t106's, they are 6v essentially golf cart batteries and you can push them pretty darn hard without harming their rebound.

[Pursell]

How do you run the wire for panels to the batteries? What pathway was used to get them from the roof down into the battery compartment?

[Blackhat6mike]

I drilled two wire sized holes in the roof and ran the wires down through the walls to the controller. Simple run as I had good routing in the walls. Good planning makes a huge difference. I also wired my panels in series to up the voltage and reduce the amperage.

[stinkmonkey]

anyone have screw or fastener advice? i am unsure of the best way to secure things to the outside of my fiberglass trailer (forest river tracer). i am thinking of well nuts with stainless screws for the panels, but that seems a bit excessive for an exterior wire run with some sort of a cable clip... can i just use a small diam stainless screw and silicone it? spacing?

thanks