How and where to install solar panel?

[pedirob]

I would really like to have a solar panel to trickle charge my camper while it's in storage, as I don't have shore power. Mounting on the roof seems logical, but I have an EPDM roof and I'm terrified to do anything to the roof. I could do some kind of temporary setup and take it down when I travel, but it needs to be resistant to theft and high winds. Any ideas? I have a North Trail 24BHS by the way.

Thanks...Rob

 

[Garypowell]

I bought a charger and just ran the wire outside....secured it a couple of places with tape.

after the winter was over....took it all down and hit the road.

 

[CoveredWagon]

Here is what I've done for the last 3 years

 

[AuthenticBiker]

I installed a 100 watt panel on the roof of our 2019 Torque T26. What a pain to find the wires. So sad and terrible on Heartland's part in my opinion. I'll post a link to a short video I made hoping I can help out the next person. I also show the install of the flexible solar panel (experimental install). YouTube video link ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho_y4ljORlo

 

[pedirob]

Thanks for sharing! Nice video. My camper has a plug on the frame near the battery box instead of roof wires.
I'm thinking of mounting a solar panel on my MaxxAir cover! That way I won't mess with the roof at all.

 

[BLR]

We installed 6 205watt panels on the top of our Cyclone.

Sent from BLR Logistics

 

[jbeletti]

I installed a 100 watt panel on the roof of our 2019 Torque T26. What a pain to find the wires. So sad and terrible on Heartland's part in my opinion. I'll post a link to a short video I made hoping I can help out the next person. I also show the install of the flexible solar panel (experimental install).

A quick note to readers of this thread that with regard to the feedback above, I've asked Customer Service to work with Production to dig into why the solar prep wiring location was not properly marked and why the supplied wiring print also did not match up with our documentation. The goal here being to make our documentation and decals match production. Thanks AuthenticBiker for your constructive feedback. The video was especially helpful to me to explain to the team back in Elkhart.

 

[Silverado23]

I installed my flexible solar panels directly to the EPDM roof. I think I used butyl rubber sealant under the panel to the roof. The stuff I used was high temperature rated and listed as EDPM compatible along with plastics and other materals. After several days of drying, I sealed the edges with dicor lap sealant.
I did that nearly 5 years ago and the dicor is the only needed minor touchups once in a while.

 

[AuthenticBiker]

A quick note to readers of this thread that with regard to the feedback above, I've asked Customer Service to work with Production to dig into why the solar prep wiring location was not properly marked and why the supplied wiring print also did not match up with our documentation. The goal here being to make our documentation and decals match production. Thanks AuthenticBiker for your constructive feedback. The video was especially helpful to me to explain to the team back in Elkhart.

Jim, Thank you very much for your efforts and comment.

 

[CDN]

Hello,

Exact same here. Cold and snow make roof top option a concern. I left my 6 v bank in the trailer last winter and built a simple wood frame and mounted two panels on the ground. I change direction based upon time of year. In Summer sun i can pull almost 9 amps from them.

Post here https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...cations/page5?highlight=Louisville+mod+thread


A year in they are working just fine, yes a bit of an issue to move them at times but works.

 

[Silverado23]

Hello,

Exact same here. Cold and snow make roof top option a concern. I left my 6 v bank in the trailer last winter and built a simple wood frame and mounted two panels on the ground. I change direction based upon time of year. In Summer sun i can pull almost 9 amps from them.

Post here https://heartlandowners.org/showthr...cations/page5?highlight=Louisville+mod+thread


A year in they are working just fine, yes a bit of an issue to move them at times but works.

With my rooftop installation snow and cold has not been too much of an issue. I remove some snow off part of one panel if over a couple inches to make sure the batteries keep charging, the dark color of the panels heat up pretty quick and the panels will all be clear in a couple of sunny days even in very cold weather. (0F) Now if the daytime highs for multiple days are sub zero you may have other issues......

A snow brush on the end of a 10 ft 1" pvc pipe is even enough reach to clear snow from the edge panels on my RV. Just enough to remove some of the snow to get the charging process started again. Panels start heating and then the panels will clear up on their own.