Solar Panel - Would strongly recommend + tips if you plan to fit

[Paul an Jane MK]

Hi,

Just thought I would share my experience as we have only had our Moho 15 months now and I fitted a DIY 100 watt solar pane 3 months ago and it is the best thing I did and would not want to be without one now.

Our Moho was in storage last winter and we struggled with the batteries and ended up removing both and having to take them home to charge them and when I reconnected the leisure it upset the control panel even though it was turned off (Sargent control panel woes - fairly well documented.)

I was not planning to fit it myself but my dealer could not get a panel in stock whilst they had my vehicle for the Hab service so with a long trip planned at Easter I bit the bullet and ordered a DIY kit with a basic dual controller and enough extra cable to run to the vehicle battery as well as the leisure battery. It came with all the fittings plus a tube of Sikaflex (which is basically a glue that cures when it makes contact with the atmosphere.)

Now that is a bit of a scary thought, glueing a Solar panel to your roof and I did keep a cursory eye on my mirrors when we got on to the Motorway and got up to a decent cruising speed the first time but I can confirm if you take care it does stay put and it has got to be better than drilling lots of holes in your roof.

First Tip: Sikaflex comes in a standard cartridge that fits a sealant gun, but be warned this stuff is pretty solid and you need a really good quality really solid Sealant Gun to get this stuff out of the tube. Both of mine just started to bend rather than pushing out the glue with any force at all.

Make sure you measure a suitable flat space on your roof for the panel and make sure you buy one that will fit allowing for the extra space of the corner feet. Make sure there is a suitable entry point for the cable in a cupboard or wardrobe. I drilled my hole for the cable within the area of the roof that the panel was going to be fitted as the gland box was small enough to fit under the panel and this gave added weather protection.

Check/check and double check before drilling and remember there will be a difference from the outer edge and inner edge as you need to allow for the thickness of wall insulation inside.

On mine the cable passes through a gland that screwed in to a surface mounted box also secured with sikaflex and I sealed the hole around the cable where it passed through the roof as well.

I thoroughly cleaned my roof and then wiped the areas to be glued with IPA Isapropyl alchohol. I fitted the corner brackets to the panel first then offered up the panel to mark the roof and then put a layer of Sikaflex on the base of the brackets and the roof making sure I was fairly generous and then put the solar panel down but making sure I did not push too hard on the panel as it would make the layer of Sikaflex between the roof and brackets too thin but enough that it squidged out the side a bit to make a strong bond.

I then ran my cabling to the controller fitted on the wall of our wardrobe and two cables running to the leisure & vehicle battery, the cables were connected to the batteries using crimped connectors. The connections on the box were standard screw clamp type.

Tip 2: In daylight a solar panel can create a fair amount of current, before you connect your cable from the panel to the controller make sure the panel is covered with something thick or in my case I waited until night fall before connecting it which saved me having to climb up a ladder again.

I must confess I cheated when running the cable to the vehicle battery I ran it through the floor in the corner of an air vent rather than drilling a hole in the floor as well as the roof.

Tip 3: I had to ask for fuses as they were not supplied as standard. Having seen the power from a leisure battery when a cable shorts out ( you would be amazed at the heat that can be generated melting the plastic around the cables and could so easily cause a fire) I would not want to have any unfused cables in my Moho so I fitted in line fuses to the panel and both battery cables.

I set the controller to prioritise my leisure battery 90% charge but once my leisure battery is full the controller automatically diverts all charge to the engine battery. Both batteries are always fully charged and ready to go now.

We are not dependant on hook up any more, okay we are probably not the highest consumers but it means we are not reliant on hook up so we have the freedom to find a quiet spot if we want.

I would thoroughly recommend either getting one fitted or giving it a go yourself, there are videos on you tube but none of them seemed to show using the Sikaflex which for me was the most daunting bit.

Not exhaustive instructions by any means but if it gives anyone the inspiration then it was worth it.

Paul

 

[Yorkshireman in Wales]

Some great advice there. I am hoping that when we finally take the plunge and get an MH that it'll already have one fitted! I have developed some DIY skills but the thought of me doing what you've done does worry me!

 

[klaatu]

I can thoroughly recommend the Everbuild "Power Pro" sealant gun.

Regarding not pressing down too hard so as to avoid squeezing out too much adhesive, it's a good idea to use spacers of a suitable thickness (3mm or so) so that you can still press down firmly but maintain the correct thickness of adhesive.

 

[DBK]

I used tile spacers under my mounts, the little white plastic crosses.

I don't remember having a problem with my cheapie gun thingie but I did keep the Sikaflex tube somewhere warm before using it and cut the end of the nozzle so there was a reasonably large outlet at the end.

 

[SomeoneElse]

The OP has it pretty well covered and matches my expeience.

When putting the sikaflex on don't be temped to put a line of it all the way around the mount as its required to allow the air to escape. Lines along the mount is a good way, you can always put a trim of sikaflex when in position. Its best to put sikaflex all around the cable entry unit as you want it watertight, air can escape into the MH via the cable holes.

I did mine single handed so I used two pieces of 4x2 timber. Firstly on edge so no sikaflex touched the MH while placing the panel on the roof. Then turn one piece of timber over to the flat position before moving the other side and repeating. When I was sure I had the panel positioned each piece of timber was removed in turn and the panel was finally lowered on to tile spacers.