Solar Panel Mount on FWC Roof Question

[Josh41]

OK, 100 watt Renogy rigid panel is ordered. Curious how you all have mounted rigid panels on your FWCs. I have a '17 Fleet with Yakima tracks. I have one rear roof vent, and do not have one over the bed. Prefer not to add holes to roof and wish to use the Yakima tracks.
Advise appreciated.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

There are a couple of ways to bolt them to the Yakima tracks. Assuming you ordered or will make the panel brackets, you can either put track nuts into the tracks (I like the Thule TK 1 nuts), then bolt the brackets and panel to them. Alternatively, find bolts like carriage bolts, whose heads fit in the tracks, fit the brackets and panel over the bolts, then tighten the nuts down to keep things secure.

If I had to do it, I would use the track nuts. If they hold down Yakima bars and canoes, they should hold a 100 watt panel.

 

[whwv]

The panel on my Eagle is mounted to the Yakima tracks using four bolts and track nuts. Makes it easy to move around or remove. I don't have a picture of mine, but this guy has a similar setup: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/6465-solar-panel-mount-on-yakima-racks/#entry84359

 

[takesiteasy]

Here's how I did it: http://travelswithrockythedog.blogspot.com/2016/09/solar-power.html

 

[nikonron]

I made brackets from aluminum angle. With your smaller panel you may need to span all the way across with aluminum angle. 1"x1"x1/8" will be plenty. Ron

 

[Josh41]

I made brackets from aluminum angle. With your smaller panel you may need to span all the way across with aluminum angle. 1"x1"x1/8" will be plenty. Ron

20170401_105853_resized.jpg

I think that may be the case, the panel is narrower than the tracks.

 

[nikonron]

If you get a 150 watt panel it would be long enough to solve that problem. Ron

 

[rando]

If your 100W panel won't span the tracks - it probably makes more sense to sell that panel and buy a longer 120 - 160w panel that will span the tracks than to spend the extra money and weight on aluminium angle to adapt the shorter panel to the tracks.

 

[takesiteasy]

If your 100W panel won't span the tracks - it probably makes more sense to sell that panel and buy a longer 120 - 160w panel that will span the tracks than to spend the extra money and weight on aluminium angle to adapt the shorter panel to the tracks.

I agree with this- my panel (160 watt) spans the tracks and made installation easy. Plus the extra capacity is nice. Didn't really cost more either.

 

[ckent323]

I have two 100 W panels that are not long enough to bridge across the Yakima tracks. I bought four lengths of rectangular Aluminum tubing and mounted the panels to them and then bolted to Yakima rails using the Yakima 8890028 Hardware kit I bought on Amazon.

The mounting is solid and easy to adjust or remove.

For more details see post #3 in the following thread:

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/15237-mounting-solar-panel-to-fwcthule-rack-how-to/



Regards,

Craig

 

[Josh41]

Unfortunately, Renogy's 150 still will not span the tracks. So I will buy some Z or L aluminum at my local Metals Supermarket and install the 100W panel on the aluminum across the Yakima tracks. After reading more, it seems like 100W won't quite cut it between shade, angle, latitude, etc. So another panel is in my future.

Here's the question: Does the other panel have to be 100W? Can it be more or less? And, what about getting a fold-able panel for the second and plugging it in to the rear solar panel plug? If the fold-able gets full sun and the roof panel is shaded will it be a problem?

As an aside:
I found the wires needed in the battery compartment that come down from the solar plugs on roof and rear of camper, I hooked up a battery to the roof plug and identified the + and - wires (they were red+ and black -) and the shielded end of the plug is the +.

 

[Vic Harder]

Unfortunately, Renogy's 150 still will not span the tracks. So I will buy some Z or L aluminum at my local Metals Supermarket and install the 100W panel on the aluminum across the Yakima tracks. After reading more, it seems like 100W won't quite cut it between shade, angle, latitude, etc. So another panel is in my future.

Here's the question: Does the other panel have to be 100W? Can it be more or less? And, what about getting a fold-able panel for the second and plugging it in to the rear solar panel plug? If the fold-able gets full sun and the roof panel is shaded will it be a problem?

Sounds like you don't have a controller yet. Which one are you getting? Ideally, if using a PWM style controller, the two roof panels would be the same. If MPPT style controller, you should hook them up in series and the max current of the two panels should be similar/identical.

 

[rando]

There are plenty of other panel suppliers besides Renogy - DMSolar has a 160w panel that will span the tracks, Eco-worthy also has a 160W panel that should span the tracks. If you are planning on an MPPT charge controller (which you probably should), you could also consider 24V panels which come in larger sizes, many of which will span the tracks. The only drawback with 24V panels is that it makes is harder to add a portable panel in parallel as it would also have to be a 24V panel.

 

[BobM]

Here's how I mounted my Renolgy 100 watt. I bought a couple of aluminum angle and riveted them to the panel. I then mounted that setup to my Yakima racks:

https://youtu.be/zpgk5YocDyo