Check your solar panels are secure on your roof.

Two on Tour

Two on Tour

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Near the junction of the A14 and A1, Cambs
Funster No
45,145
MH
Elddis Autoquest 175
Exp
Since 2010
I normally clean our solar panels before each trip away and check that they are securely fixed on our roof.
I would not want to be responsible for this happening.

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Child among three dead in multi-vehicle crash in Tasmania's Midlands

Three people have died and four more have been taken to hospital after a multi-vehicle crash near Ross in Tasmania's Midlands. WARNING: This story contains an image that may cause distress.
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Check mine every time I wash the van also I fit mine with 6 brackets rather than the usual 4.
Nearly all the ones that come off are mounted with plastic brackets, with the plastic brackets several Sikaflex PU's are not suitable and they have probably been fixed with the wrong grade.
 
I checked mine in September to find one mounting loose on the panel fitted 4 years ago. The 6 year old panel is still perfectly secure.
I can only assume that the aero bracket hadn’t been cleaned/abraded enough when I fitted it. There was no sign of a problem when I cleaned the roof back in April
 
Thank you. Will check

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Jaws said:
Yup.. Mine are bolted to the OEM roof racking,, Would have to rip the rood off to get free of the van
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Hi Jaws, I have a large rear luggage rack on our roof as OEM, and wondered if this would be ideal for a future set of solars?
We don’t use the rack for anything, it just gathers muck each year and is a bugger to clean.
It’s full width of the van.
Cheers M’dears.
 
This subject is debated often, just pleased mine are bolted on and not relying on adhesive. There will be many that will say theirs have been stuck on for years and never had a problem but no doubt that those who have lost panels said the same thing at one time.
I have even read reports of some only using sealant such as Silkoflex 512 or 521 UV to fix solar panels to roof.
 
jezport said:
Sika and screws through metal brackets. No need to check!
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Same with mine,,belt and bracers,,BUSBY,,

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If you think screwing the brackets to the roof is more secure you are under an illusion a self tapper into very thin aluminium will rip out easily. Also even worse if you use stainless steel self tappers as with aluminium and stainless you get galvanic corrosion & the aluminium corrodes away.

By far the best way is to fix them with a PU adhesive you just need to make sure you use the correct one for the materials.

You don't see cars falling apart as they drive down the road, wings and other parts are held on with PU adhesive.
 
Lenny HB said:
If you think screwing the brackets to the roof is more secure you are under an illusion a self tapper into very thin aluminium will rip out easily. Also even worse if you use stainless steel self tappers as with aluminium and stainless you get galvanic corrosion & the aluminium corrodes away.

By far the best way is to fix them with a PU adhesive you just need to make sure you use the correct one for the materials.

You don't see cars falling apart as they drive down the road, wings and other parts are held on with PU adhesive.
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One incident I heard of was when the paint became detached from the vehicle roof so you are relying on the paint adhesion and you have no control over that. The panels used in car assembly do not have the same weight as solar panels and are not subject to the same stresses.
 
On our travels we have seen a number of squashed panels on motorways around Europe so it does happen more often than you might imagine. Our friends daughter also lost two in one day on a recent self build obviously not fitted correctly. A few minutes checking occasionally will do no harm and maybe prevent an accident.
 
Borderland said:
One incident I heard of was when the paint became detached from the vehicle roof so you are relying on the paint adhesion and you have no control over that. The panels used in car assembly do not have the same weight as solar panels and are not subject to the same stresses.
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most spoilers are glued on even on 200mph cars
 
Lenny HB said:
If you think screwing the brackets to the roof is more secure you are under an illusion a self tapper into very thin aluminium will rip out easily. Also even worse if you use stainless steel self tappers as with aluminium and stainless you get galvanic corrosion & the aluminium corrodes away.

By far the best way is to fix them with a PU adhesive you just need to make sure you use the correct one for the materials.

You don't see cars falling apart as they drive down the road, wings and other parts are held on with PU adhesive.
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No illusion my roof is steel, my last van was GRP. Would never buy a van with an aluminium roof, not fit for purpose.

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Interesting (but concerning) post, and pertinent to my own consideration of fitting a panel to my new van. Do I use a flexible panel type, and bond it on (with the likely difficulty of getting it off if or when it fails), use bonded brackets, or screw it to what I suspect is an aluminium roof (Compass/Elddis Avantgarde 196)? I don't want to drill through the roof if at all avoidable in any case, due to warranty/water ingress issues.

Any thoughts?
 
Wannabee said:
Interesting (but concerning) post, and pertinent to my own consideration of fitting a panel to my new van. Do I use a flexible panel type, and bond it on (with the likely difficulty of getting it off if or when it fails), use bonded brackets, or screw it to what I suspect is an aluminium roof (Compass/Elddis Avantgarde 196)? I don't want to drill through the roof if at all avoidable in any case, due to warranty/water ingress issues.

Any thoughts?
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Semi flexible panels have a notoriously high failure rate, far better to fit a standard panel.

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Wannabee said:
Interesting (but concerning) post, and pertinent to my own consideration of fitting a panel to my new van. Do I use a flexible panel type, and bond it on (with the likely difficulty of getting it off if or when it fails), use bonded brackets, or screw it to what I suspect is an aluminium roof (Compass/Elddis Avantgarde 196)? I don't want to drill through the roof if at all avoidable in any case, due to warranty/water ingress issues.

Any thoughts?
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Flexible panels are (reportedly) more prone to failure and are as you say difficult to remove. They have their uses where a stand-off panel might badly affect appearance (on a PVC for example) but offer no advantage where they're out of sight anyway. Use the appropriate PU adhesive and aluminium brackets. Most motorhome roofs have thin outer skins whether aluminium or GRP so screws are pointless. This discussion pops up every year or so usually after a panel is lost or someone notices a loose bracket - given the number of leisure vehicles with solar panels installed it's a non-issue. Prepare the surfaces & use the correct adhesive.
 
tonyidle said:
Flexible panels are (reportedly) more prone to failure and are as you say difficult to remove. They have their uses where a stand-off panel might badly affect appearance (on a PVC for example) but offer no advantage where they're out of sight anyway. Use the appropriate PU adhesive and aluminium brackets. Most motorhome roofs have thin outer skins whether aluminium or GRP so screws are pointless. This discussion pops up every year or so usually after a panel is lost or someone notices a loose bracket - given the number of leisure vehicles with solar panels installed it's a non-issue. Prepare the surfaces & use the correct adhesive.
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If it happens and causes an accident then blame, if any, has to be attached to someone. If negligent in the way the panel was fitted then the person fitting it is to blame. How many of those who have only glued them on can prove they were not negligent by failing to fit mechanical fixing such as a bolt when there have been reported cases of glued panels coming loose.

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Ours were put on by the Motorhome dealer we bought it from ( large-ish dealership) should we be worried and check ?
 
I have attended some roof and panels repairs on houses and warehouses due to wind uplift. These installations have structural engineering plans and installed by accredited qualified companies. Mistakes happens and wind can be very unpredictable. I was amassed at a installation on flat roof with a parapet wall shielding and a fair amount of ballast to weigh down the supports. It lifted anyway. Some fixings have failed due to repeat lift and fatigue was the nail on the coffin. These are fixed installations.
Now we are on a mobile installation scenario, with various ever changing locations and conditions, 70mph on the motorway and passing fast traffic on single carriage ways. There will be lots of vibrations at different frequencies and eventually something will let go. The fatigue on a mobile installation will be far greater than fixed ones. If any mass is behind a screw, under constant vibrations, that screw stands a chance of fail.
I have bolted mine with 6x m6 bolts per each panel with rubber cushion to the matting surface, and plate washer and lock nut inside. Periodically I check the panel clamps for play due to thermal expansion and contraction. In almost a year, I had to re tight couple of bolts by less than a 1/4 turn. I put that to uneven torque at initial installation, and still checking for any loose clamp periodically. It will not fling of but rattle like hell if is loose and I’m aware of any noise, even loose items in the cupboards can unsettle me. My worse fear was losing a panel in traffic, so for peace of mind and reliability I opted for bolt thru with lock nut.
 
Raul said:
I have bolted mine with 6x m6 bolts per each panel with rubber cushion to the matting surface, and plate washer and lock nut inside. Periodically I check the panel clamps for play due to thermal expansion and contraction. In almost a year, I had to re tight couple of bolts by less than a 1/4 turn. I put that to uneven torque at initial installation, and still checking for any loose clamp periodically. It will not fling of but rattle like hell if is loose and I’m aware of any noise, even loose items in the cupboards can unsettle me. My worse fear was losing a panel in traffic, so for peace of mind and reliability I opted for bolt thru with lock nut.
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If you are going to use a mechanical fixing that is the only way to do it. But I think most Motorhome owners would shriek in horror at bolts coming right through their roof.
 
Borderland said:
If it happens and causes an accident then blame, if any, has to be attached to someone. If negligent in the way the panel was fitted then the person fitting it is to blame. How many of those who have only glued them on can prove they were not negligent by failing to fit mechanical fixing such as a bolt when there have been reported cases of glued panels coming loose.
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Apparently some people think that Silkaflex is a multi-use product and use the sealant version as an adhesive.
 
I had to use screws as the thin aluminium skin isn't stuck to the plywood underneath, they're all sealed in with Sikaflex though so can't come undone and they're into the plywood so galvanic corrosion doesn't matter.

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