Roof rack/PV panel mounting

[rdelmendo]

Hi all-

I'm trying to determine how to mount the PV panel to the roof of the TD.


The roof (and sides for that matter) of my TD are made of a sandwich of 1/8" ABS with Al skin. The roof has 1" metal spars, however, I've covered up all but two of them with inside cabinetry. A couple of questions for the experts:
1- How would you fabricate mounts for the panel given the thin skin of my TD?
2- One option would be to attach risers to the sides of the trailer and then run rails across the entire roof.
3- The PV panel will be fixed. Spots on the TD where the panel will fit are fore and aft of the vent which are sloped. My intuition is to mount the panel flat and not follow the curves of the TD. Would this look silly or catch too much wind when in tow?

Cheers,

Ron

[bdosborn]

You might be better off to follow the curves as tilting the solar panel will increase performance, depending on the season.

Panel Tilting

The downside to tilting the panel is you'll need to face the panel/trailer south for maximum sun exposure.

Bruce

[Shadow Catcher]

I would like to see a few more pictures and a set of dimensions.
It looks like a lot of panel and not much tear. A conventional rack i.e. Yakima type might be easiest and safest.

[dreadcptflint]

I'm with Shadow Catcher, more dimensions and pictures are needed. To me it looks like you put your vent in the perfect place for the panel.

[rdelmendo]

Thanks Bruce and SC,

Pictures are a bit hard in the cramped garage with flash reflections off the Al skin... I think the picture makes the panel look much bigger than it really is. The TD is 5x10 with the vent pretty much centered at the crest of the roof line. There is 36" fore and aft of the vent on the roof before the galley hatch in back or steep slope in the front. The panel is 23"x59", so it will fit at either spot.

After some measuring and web searching, I've decided to make a custom roof rack along the lines of a vintage VW roof rack. Something like the following:
http://www.pedroracks.com/bus.html
I will then mount the panel to that allowing me to prop up one side of the panel to optimize exposure.

Cheers,

Ron

[Shadow Catcher]

Sounds like a plan, when you get it done.

[MKE_Tear]

Sounds like a plan, when you get it done.

Ditto!!

Would love to read & see how you do it/how it turned out.

I'm thinking I wouldn't mind adding a rack to mine next year, but this year I have to finish the camper. Ha!

[Steve F]

I made two rails out of angled aluminium, my panel slides in and then a bolt (1 at each corner) goes through the side of the angle into the aluminium trim on the panel. It makes the large 167W panel easy to slide on and off and is secure and easy to setup in camp for optimal charging if I want to take it off.



Cheers
Steve