dieharder
Ottawa, ON
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I usually go up and inspect the caulking on the roof a couple of times a year. Last time, I had a look around and noticed that there are a couple of MHs that have solar panels mounted on top of the AC shroud.
I'm thinking about getting a couple of panels, but I'm wondering... is this a safe install? I didn't think that the shroud would be strong enough, but it would sure beat extra holes in the roof.
1999 Itasca Sunrise
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OnaQuest
Old enough to be a
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The little solar panels you see on the AC shrouds are more sales gimmick than functional units. They are usually just hooked to the chassis battery and act as a trickle charger at best.
The mounting doesn't apply any weight of stress to the shroud as it matches the mounting bolt hole pattern in the shroud to AC unit.
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harold1946
Surprise Arizona
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The one you are seeing mounted on the shroud are only about 16"-18" square. They will maintain a battery but not much more.
I have seen several laying on the side of the road still attached to the shroud. The shroud broke free and took the panel with it. I have also seen those small panels dangling by the wire after breaking free from the shroud.
In my opinion, mount any panel drectly to the roof.
Harold and Linda
2009 CT Coachworks siena 35V
W-22 Workhorse 8.1L
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dieharder
Ottawa, ON
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harold1946 wrote:
I have seen several laying on the side of the road still attached to the shroud. The shroud broke free and took the panel with it.
That's what I was thinking would happen - that the lift caused by air passing under and over the solar panel while driving would add stress somewhere that it wasn't designed for.
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wilburno
central louisiana
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mine mounts on top of a/c using the bolts which hold down shroud. never had a problem. trickle charges battery. i like it.
will walker
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michelb
Ottawa, ON, Canada
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Personally, I love having ours. It's tiny (maybe 5W) but in 5 years, I've never had a problem with batteries being dead when we take the mh out of storage (we leave our mh in storage in Florida over the winter and fly down to use it maybe 3 times over the winter so our mh is in storage for 2-3+ months without hookups). I think Fleetwood (among many other manufacturers) have had them on their AC units for 15+ years and I can't say I've ever seen one that feel off.
I can see the AC shroud breaking off but if that happens, I don't think the solar panel makes a big difference one way or another.
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smkettner
Southern California
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If you want to add significant solar to reduce or eliminate running the generator you will need some larger panels attached to the roof. Lots of people do this and few to none have trouble with leaks.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675 watts solar
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harold1946
Surprise Arizona
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I have seen them mounted three ways. Some using the shroud mounting bolts. Some bolted to the plastic. Some mounted to the shroud with double backed tape.
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