400 watts of solar on roof

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by Lcavalletti

I used Marine 4200 to seal the brackets to the roof and 2 screws per bracket with 4 total brackets. , so they should be on there permanently, without issue

Just took delivery of 2 100-watt panels. OMG these panels are not light. I can see why you would want mechanical fasteners and not just tape. If this thing came off the roof it would instantly become a lethal projectile. I'm skipping the tape and see if I can through-bolt these things on.

[Lcavalletti]

I through bolted the 4 Z brackets using stainless 1" carriage bolts and stainless lock nuts, they are well secured to the roof as is, I suppose you could through bolt them through the hardtop if you wanted to be extra secure, you certainly could use only the z brackets on the long side if you did that no need for a bracket on the short side.

I would not use tape, I made that mistake years ago with my flexible panels and when I removed them there were spider cracks all over the gelcoat of the top and a bunch of dirt under there too.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IanF]

Eeek! (on the tape residue)

It's good to see different options. Right now, I'm still leaning towards installed a rack attached to the drip rails and mounting panels to that. Not quite a clean, but I'm thinking I want to minimize the number of holes I have to make through the roof.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by Lcavalletti

I have the front and rear panel mounted with your standard Z brackets, ( dont use the Renogy Z brackets) they were a thinner diameter aluminum than the standard made in China ones I found on amazon.

Lcavalletti - I guess the Renogy brackets would work but you're right they are really cheap and light. Did you find some heaver ones on Amazon? Can you point them out - is there a link we can use? - Thanks

Is this what you ordered? Stainless steel?

https://www.amazon.com/CMYYANGLIN-Mo..._dp&th=1&psc=1

[basssears]

The other consideration here is cooling... the hotter the panels get the less productive they are, so if you apply them straight to the roof with no ventilation underneath you're going to have much less performance.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by basssears

The other consideration here is cooling... the hotter the panels get the less productive they are, so if you apply them straight to the roof with no ventilation underneath you're going to have much less performance.

Yeah I was shocked (!) at how hot these get just by generating electricity. Makes me wonder about the flexible panels that get stuck down right onto a surface - they must suffer from heat buildup.

[Lcavalletti]

Originally Posted by N147JK

Lcavalletti - I guess the Renogy brackets would work but you're right they are really cheap and light. Did you find some heaver ones on Amazon? Can you point them out - is there a link we can use? - Thanks

Is this what you ordered? Stainless steel?

https://www.amazon.com/CMYYANGLIN-Mo..._dp&th=1&psc=1

I didnt use those, but shoudl have those are better than the aluminum ones i used. I would grab those ones , they look far superior to the standard aluminum ones I used

[N147JK]

Just wanted to share this finding with everyone. This is the nightmare - a heavy solar panel comes off at highway speed. This is why I discarded the idea of using tape. They need to be mechanically fastened down.

Can you imagine this crashing edge-on into a windshield?!

https://www.wereldreizigers.nl/en/mo...x-glue-screws/