Solar prep Pinnacle - MC4 connection on roof?

[vivusCraig]

I am planning a solar install on my 2016 Pinnacle 36FBTS. I am looking at Renogy 100w panels. Each panel comes with MC4 leads.

Is the solar prep roof connection MC4?

Renogy sells Z-brackets that are installed directly to the roof. Is this method secure enough for highway driving?

Always appreciate the community feedback.

[klassic]

Yes it’s mc4.
Check to be sure Jayco wired them correctly, I’ve read some wire reversed.

If your mounting your panel in the middle of the roof...keep in mind the arc of the roof is pretty big and small Z brackets won’t lift the middle of the panel up high enough to clear the middle. All depends how wide your panel is. Mine are 260watts each and are fairly wide, so the arc came into play.
Just something to be aware of. I made my Z brackets and they are adjustable height. I’ve seen them sold like that too.

I tried to line them up to hit trusses, the front ones hit. I think I missed the back ones on one panel.
But it was the front ones that I cared about being solid because of the wind. Maybe it didn’t really matter. It made me feel better about a 60” panel being held down though.

If you are putting the panel in the area of the front middle..it was so level in that area that, when the trailer is level, the panel is perfectly flat and the water doesn’t drain off of it (over the outside lip of the panel)..something else to think about.

[vivusCraig]

Originally Posted by klassic

Yes it’s mc4.
Check to be sure Jayco wired them correctly, I’ve read some wire reversed.

If your mounting your panel in the middle of the roof...keep in mind the arc of the roof is pretty big and small Z brackets won’t lift the middle of the panel up high enough to clear the middle. All depends how wide your panel is. Mine are 260watts each and are fairly wide, so the arc came into play.
Just something to be aware of. I made my Z brackets and they are adjustable height. I’ve seen them sold like that too.

I tried to line them up to hit trusses, the front ones hit. I think I missed the back ones on one panel.
But it was the front ones that I cared about being solid because of the wind. Maybe it didn’t really matter. It made me feel better about a 60” panel being held down though.

If you are putting the panel in the area of the front middle..it was so level in that area that, when the trailer is level, the panel is perfectly flat and the water doesn’t drain off of it (over the outside lip of the panel)..something else to think about.

Thanks klassic. I am planning on six Renogy 100 watt panels. These are 42" by 20" each.

How were you able to find the trusses? Did you use a regular stud finder?
Hadn't yet decided where to mount the panels. I see your point regarding mounting in the middle and issues with Z brackets. Also never gave much thought to drainage.

My biggest concern is missing the trusses and installing the panels into the plywood only. Not sure if that is strong enough to withstand the forces of travel.

How long since you installed your panels? I assume you have not seen any issues? Lots of folks seem to go with the flexible panels to avoid installation issues. For me, the regular glass panels with perform better, are cheaper, will last longer and can more easily replaced than the flexible ones.

[klassic]

I didn’t use a stud finder because I didn’t have one. I found them by feel and seeing seams. But the misses were probably just skinning the edge.
If I was doing it again I would try a stud finder.

If your six panels are spread far apart like mine in this pic... the back panel is hooked to the roof mc4 connector and the front one I dropped a wire down the stink pipe because the connector was way back beside the AC. I didn’t want to run a wire that far on the roof.

I joined the wires behind the basement wall. And if I want to, I could put them in series at any time.
I think Mustang65 made a switch so he could go between parallel and series.

Don’t forget to leave room to walk safely by the panels. I had to change plans because I wouldn’t have got around them.

Ive had them for almost three years. Even if you miss a truss the 3/8 ply will grip fairly well (don’t strip it) and when you put the dicor on the brackets will be stuck like cement.

[vivusCraig]

Originally Posted by klassic

I didn’t use a stud finder because I didn’t have one. I found them by feel and seeing seams. But the misses were probably just skinning the edge.
If I was doing it again I would try a stud finder.

If your six panels are spread far apart like mine in this pic... the back panel is hooked to the roof mc4 connector and the front one I dropped a wire down the stink pipe because the connector was way back beside the AC. I didn’t want to run a wire that far on the roof.

I joined the wires behind the basement wall. And if I want to, I could put them in series at any time.
I think Mustang65 made a switch so he could go between parallel and series.

Don’t forget to leave room to walk safely by the panels. I had to change plans because I wouldn’t have got around them.

Ive had them for almost three years. Even if you miss a truss the 3/8 ply will grip fairly well (don’t strip it) and when you put the dicor on the brackets will be stuck like cement.

Thanks again klassic. Appreciate the pointers. Your panel install looks great! Very clean. I am intending on wiring the 6 panels as 3 strings in parallel. Still trying to figure it all out. I will probably need a combiner box with a negative and positive bus bar in it. The negative and positive for all of the strings would be combined to output the single negative and positive that will will go to the MC4 connector installed in the solar prep.

Never done anything like this before so I am proceeding very slowly, trying to learn as much as I can.

[Trailgypsy]

Check out "loveyourrv.com" He has a lot of good information on his solar install than just adapt to what you want to use. Might give some thought to the 200 watt panels from "gotsolarinstalled". That way you are only installing 3 panels instead of 5. I have 2 - 200 watts and 1 - 175 watt. Rest of the system is pretty close to loveyourrv's.

[vivusCraig]

Originally Posted by Trailgypsy

Check out "loveyourrv.com" He has a lot of good information on his solar install than just adapt to what you want to use. Might give some thought to the 200 watt panels from "gotsolarinstalled". That way you are only installing 3 panels instead of 5. I have 2 - 200 watts and 1 - 175 watt. Rest of the system is pretty close to loveyourrv's.

Thanks Trailgypsy. Ended up ordering three 160 watt panels. Have room for more if I need it. Have seen the loveyourRv video on solar panels and it was very helpful.

[kliney1016]

Hi guys, I have a 2017 Pinnacle 36FBTS and have started my install. I have 500 watts of solar on the roof, the MPPT solar controller in the basement along with 4 battleborns. I replaced the xantrex 1000 watt inverter with a gopower 3000 watt inverter/charger/ transfer switch. As you can see the wires are a big rats nest and not sure what they all go to. I just replicated what was there which I am seeing may not be the best thing. Do I just hook up the positive and negatives from the solar controller to the battery bank? There are wires going from the batteries to the battery disconnect panel and I want to make sure everything works correctly. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I want to take the AC output of the inverter into the PDU to run everything in the RV. We have a residential fridge as an FYI. I believe that is al the old inverter powered when on battery. Thanks in advance.