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Old 10-11-2004, 11:58 AM   #1
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I am about to mount my solar panels on our new Meridian 04. Any suggestions on hard points on the roof, hints & kinks? they are 120W Kyocera and weigh about 23 lbs.
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Old 10-11-2004, 11:58 AM   #2
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I am about to mount my solar panels on our new Meridian 04. Any suggestions on hard points on the roof, hints & kinks? they are 120W Kyocera and weigh about 23 lbs.
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Old 10-11-2004, 12:37 PM   #3
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I would suggest you contact the manufacture of the panels, as to what wiring you will need or what you'll have to add. Then call the Winnebago Customer Relation 800-537-1885 guys and explain what your doing to see if they have any advice. Measure two or three times before you cut or make holes. And seal any new openings really well with a Winnebago approved sealant.

The come back to the forum and tell us how it went.

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Old 10-11-2004, 01:06 PM   #4
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Bill: We already have a small solar panel on the roof. Wiring is in place. The mounting points don't look special, the sealing compound should be up to factory quality. Give us feedback on what you mounted and if any problems. Good luck
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Old 10-11-2004, 02:12 PM   #5
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The solar panels were used on my last rig, Rexhall Aerbus, mounted by RV solar electric with just normal Stainless screws and sealed..Worked fine but.... the roof on this rig seems to be not as heavy duty as last. Will talk to Winnebago tomorrow. Was just there for some work. Nice people and great tech support. Note, the 10 W. solar panel supplied is really not of much use and is wired with 16 gauge wire thru the power panel, not direct to the batteries. Would also recommend that this solar panel be attached to the chassis batteries. The house inverter/charger does not charge the chassis battery when using hookups.
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Old 10-11-2004, 04:55 PM   #6
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I installed a pair of 110 watt Siemens panels on my Suncruiser along with a 50 amp charge controller. I now have them, plus two more for a total of 440 watts, on my Bus. On both of these RVs it was quite easy to mount them to the fiberglass roofs. I did not use screws, however. While the Tiffin roof is fairly thick, the Winnebago roof isn't. Instead I used 3/16" diameter stainless steel rivets. They know over on the backside and you won't have to worry about any screw threads stripping out of the fiberglass. Lay a bead of self-levelling caulk down under the mounting brackets and be sure to caulk up the rivet heads when you're done. They held up very well on the Suncruiser and should do the same on the Bus. You can thump the roof and see where the crossmembers are. They are pretty far and few between so you shouldn't have a problem avoiding them.

In order to run 440 watts of solar power you'll be running around 45 amps of current, depending upon the voltage - which is determined by your battery condition and how bright the sun is. Two panels is half of that. If you are running two panels you can get by with a 30 amp charge controller. This would require #10 wire to get to the batteries. If you think you might expand them later on run #8 wire right away and buy the 50 amp charge controller. That's what I did and when it came time to transfer them to the Bus (and add two more) all I had to buy was two more panels. Just run the wire down the refrigerator vent and then down to your charge controller and then your batteries. be sure to lay a rug over the panels when working on the wiring or else you'll find out how to make sparks when working on the wiring.
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Old 12-08-2005, 05:42 PM   #7
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Had mine mounted thru rvsoalrelectic who use D & R Family RV Service to do the installs. They would only mount mine (4 kyocera 125w)using the beams, not just thru roof....
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Old 12-09-2005, 11:11 AM   #8
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I forgot I left this thread open. I finally did mount the panels thru the roof but I used some wall anchors and lots of skickum and sealant, they've been on there for a while and seem to be happy there (didn't fall off all summer). Thanks to all.
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