Adding rigid solar panels to roof

[Melvin Bell]

Has anyone used #3M 5200 adhesive or #3M VBM 5925 Tape on the solar panel brackets to fasten the rigid solar panels to the roof without having to drill and use screws? What was your experiance using either product. My roof on my 07 starcraft roadstar popup is aluminum. any advice is welcome.
TIA Mel

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I haven’t, but there are videos by AM Solar that show it being done. The Airstream community would often do this.

 

[Melvin Bell]

Thank you so much wandering sagebrush. This is the kind of info I needed.
Mel

 

[Starbrightsteve]

I used 3M5200 to attach brackets for a panel on the roof of a Casita. The panel never flew off when I owned it.
The problem I see with the 5200 stuff is that if you ever wanted or needed to change something that stuff is permanent! With an aluminum roof skin, removing a bracket might end up removing a piece of the roof skin. There are so many good sealants I would rather see someone use a combination of stainless bolt, nut and washers and sealants. Panels do fail occasionally and an exact replacement may not be available. You can always plug an old hole with sealant and move the mount to a new location. Most pop up have holes holding racks, vents and other gear but folks are so against more holes. Even folks with thick fiberglass roofs like on Casitas and Escapes vibrate when you suggest drilling a hole and using a bolt.

 

[Melvin Bell]

I used 3M5200 to attach brackets for a panel on the roof of a Casita. The panel never flew off when I owned it.
The problem I see with the 5200 stuff is that if you ever wanted or needed to change something that stuff is permanent! With an aluminum roof skin, removing a bracket might end up removing a piece of the roof skin. There are so many good sealants I would rather see someone use a combination of stainless bolt, nut and washers and sealants. Panels do fail occasionally and an exact replacement may not be available. You can always plug an old hole with sealant and move the mount to a new location. Most pop up have holes holding racks, vents and other gear but folks are so against more holes. Even folks with thick fiberglass roofs like on Casitas and Escapes vibrate when you suggest drilling a hole and using a bolt.

Well it snowed here 4 inches last night and my camper is outside. Guess I'll have to wait for spring, so I'll have a lot of time to think about it. Thanks everyone for the replys
Mel

 

[rando]

It is also important to know how well the roof skin is attached to the roof structure. The attachment of the panel to the skin with adhesive is only as good as the attachment of the skin to the frame. With screws you can screw into the structure.

That said I have had a panel attached with 3M VHB tape to the roof skin for almost a decade with no issues. I did make sure the attachment areas was really large ( two 1" x 48" aluminium bars fully covered in VH to spread the load around.