# Solar Panel and wood



## stevee4 (Oct 12, 2007)

I am about to fit a BP 50w solar panel. I have seen the posts about going to B & Q to buy aluminium to glue to roof and then attach the solar panel to.

Can someone give a reason why I cant use shaped (round edge) wooden 2" architrave. Painted and then glued to the roof then attached the panel to that. 

Do I need to leave a gap in the wooden frame to allow through flow of air, or will just raising the panel off the roof suffice.

Am I missing something??


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

I think you are missing something Steve. :wink: 

Wood rots - and no matter how carefully you preserve and paint it, after a couple of winters of frost the water will get in. 8O The stuff you are talking about is probably Ramin, and that would have a life expectancy of about a week! (I exaggerate slightly!!! :lol: )

A thick sheet of marine ply is your best bet if you really want to use wood, but it ain't half expensive.

Western Red Cedar is one of the less "rottable" woods as it is quite oily, but even that will go in the end.

I'd stick to aluminium if it were me. More difficult to work with, but much safer in the long run.

Hope this helps.

Dave


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

Why not invest in a mounting kit, or at least, some corner brackets that can be glued to the roof with Sikaflex. Sun and Aire in Hexham (I gave the link in your previous thread) sell these items. Much safer and more robust in the long run.


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## norm1955 (Sep 20, 2009)

*Solar Panel & Wood*

Hi Steve just a thought

I went to the local scrap yard & got a 3 mtr lenght of Ally angle for £4

Good Luck

Regards

Norman


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Is this to attach the actual panel to the roof??

We use a set of unirac feet (RRP £20). They bolt onto the panel first, then you geocel/skia them to the roof. They maintain a gap under the panel to allow for cooling (as a hot panel is an inefficient one).


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## stevee4 (Oct 12, 2007)

*Solar panel fitting*

Hi all after much head scratching I managed to attach my panel by utilising 2 aluminium cross members that are attached to the edge rails on my Arto.

I used slightly larger spacer on the front to give the panel a slight incline front to rear. To ensure it stays on at speed.


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## seanoo (Mar 31, 2007)

hi stevee4, if i were you i would put in some more spacers and bring the panel at least up to the level of your roofbars because when the sun is low the shadow on even a tiny part of your solar panel will reduce its output to almost zero. if you raise it a bit then the roofbars cant cast any shadow. all the best sean


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Get some smoothrite silver on that metalwork... its showing signs of rust already! Apart from that, a nice bit of engineering.


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

On second look at picture... why didnt you move the bars closer together and just mount the panel directly to the bars?


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Just going off at a slight tangent (I am thinking of fitting a panel) what effect does something like that have on fuel consumption - it looks to me to be as bad as a roof rack.
What is the best way of minimising the adverse effect of panels on the roof?


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## KSH (Apr 18, 2010)

Stanner said:


> Just going off at a slight tangent (I am thinking of fitting a panel) what effect does something like that have on fuel consumption - it looks to me to be as bad as a roof rack.
> What is the best way of minimising the adverse effect of panels on the roof?


I wouldn't have thought it would be much, lets face it, motorhomes are about as aerodynamic as a breeze block to start with


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

KSH said:


> Stanner said:
> 
> 
> > Just going off at a slight tangent (I am thinking of fitting a panel) what effect does something like that have on fuel consumption - it looks to me to be as bad as a roof rack.
> ...


Maybe, but as you can see (<left) mine is a low profile that isn't too bad at the moment.

However I can foresee adding a load of ironmongery like that, to what is a pretty smooth roofline, not helping much.


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## KSH (Apr 18, 2010)

I dont think all that was added just to fit the panels, he has just modified it to fit the panels to it, if you have no roof bars on now then your best bet if your thinking of aerodynamics is something like these http://www.auto-mate.org.uk/solar-p...system-for-solar-panels-all-sizes-pack-of-two


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Yes, thanks, it would make sense to use something like that - but £47 inc.P&P???. 8O


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## KSH (Apr 18, 2010)

That was only a quick search to find an example, sure they will be available cheaper somewhere, Google is your friend


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## stevee4 (Oct 12, 2007)

Snelly said:


> On second look at picture... why didnt you move the bars closer together and just mount the panel directly to the bars?


I did consider that. The panel sits directly behind the roof light opening. I had to raise this panel slightly more than most as the contact box on the rear was nearly an inch.

I then wanted to lower it as much as possible and had two different sizes of spacer available. (found in my bits box) I decided to rake it front to rear to avoid it becoming a wing and trying to rip itself off the roof.

I want to avoid making any more holes in the roof and this method means none other than the wire coming into the MHm. There is a cover on that entry point. The support bracket in the middle is merely tacked on using a small amount of marine grade sikoflex, which keeps it in place and cushions it slightly.

As far as wind resistance I already have a Camos dome up there and 3 roof lights. Added to that the shape of MHm I think this addition is unlikely to make much if any difference.


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