solar battery maintainer

[Dogdoc]

Looking to add a solar maintainer to the roof of my new to me 2020 22rb feather. This is strictly to maintain 2 gc2 6v batteries while at the storage lot. They want 30$ per month for electric. I have all the components and have used this set up numerous times to maintain boat, tractor, generator, etc batteries during prolonged times of not using. Questions

Screw or Glue panel?
Drill hole in roof and snake or drape over side (cannot stand the thought of draping!)
Panel location will be on roof near the tongue

My inclination is to drill the roof and snake wire down to the front storage area where I would mount controller and Bluetooth state of charge monitor. Should be able to run wire through the closet on side of bed and then down in storage area. Guess I am a little nervous of poking hole in roof.

Any suggestions/advice appreciated

[ARoamer]

Not familiar with your roof type or panel size, but I personally prefer brackets, butyl tape, screws, and dicor on top of it all.
Some snake solar wires down their roof vent which may not be located opimally in some cases.

[ependydad]

You can use something like this for the roof penetration:

https://www.amazon.com/Link-Solar-We...dp/B0111RNZDY/

[RogerR]

I used the roof gland like the one shown on amazon above and ran the wire inside a closet on mine and then inside piece of cable runway down to the bottom cabinet then into the space where my MPPT is. Does have a pretty good seal but mine wept a drop or two in rain so I had some no sag dicor and gooped over the wire where it went into the gland.

[Mcburt]

Humm, I don't get it. Why not pull your batteries and take them home to maintain them in a warmer location. Put a cover over the RV to protect the roof. I get the solar part but a full system to keep batteries maintained while RV is in use. In storage with a cover over your panels is not going to do much but protect the roof which is a whole lot more than replacing batteries.

[Dogdoc]

After more thinking I have decided not to mount panel on the roof, but make a bracket for the tongue and remove when towing. TT is in Fla so cold does not really factor in. As for a "full system" to maintain batteries when in use (I assume you mean boondocking, thus no shore power) would most likely require the whole roof and a second flat bed trailer behind. Refrigeration, air conditioning and clouds are the bane of solar power systems. You may recall in The Martian, Matt Damon drove at night and stopped during the day to set up his quite large solar array to charge up the vehicle.

[ARoamer]

A good idea. Also, if you can make it adjustable, being able to position more directly into the sun makes a big improvement in output.

I have 640 watts of panels flat mounted on my roof and they barely keep my 300 AH batteries charged and all 12v loads going when RV ing in AZ in January. Any other time of year they are more than adequate even in northern states.

[Mcburt]

Boondocking, no, my better half won't let me Boondock. At least for any long period of time. Got to have full hook up anywhere we go. But there have been times when I had to go a day or so without hookups. That's where the panels get you out of a crunch. My rig is prewired now. So, I am looking at two 100-watt panels and I'm going to make a suitcase out of them. I will put leg on one side and just use them on the ground outside the rig. At any time in the future, I want to expand I can separate them and put them on the roof. Add a charge controller and a couple 100 AH lithium batteries. I should be good to go. With that I can run everything but the air conditioner. That will get me by in a pinch. Good luck.

[Jerry713]

I was in the same boat. I have zero solar needs other than keeping the battery maintained. I bought one of these and just strap it to the propane tank cover with bungee cords. Works perfectly for what I need and doesn’t budge in winds.

ECO-WORTHY 10W 12V Off Grid Small... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09RZRY4QB...p_mob_ap_share