Mounting Bracket for Solar Panels onto OEM Rails

Nomadian

New member
I’ve been scouring various sites and threads for an answer to what I thought would be a straight forward question, but just not finding the solution. I am trying to mount 4 - 100 W Renogy Solar Panels directly to OEM roof rails on a 2016 Sprinter 144”. The panels are 47” wide. Does anyone know the bracket that will match them up?
 

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
I stole this excellent low-profile DIY solution for my 170ext, but should also work for a 144 if you have room.


Materials ordered from onlinemetals.com:

6061 Aluminum Angle (2" x 3" x 0.25")
2 pcs 84" long
http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=19688&step=4&showunits=inches&id=62&top_cat=60

6061-T6511 Aluminum Rectangle Bar (1.5" x 0.25")
1 pcs 36" long
https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=997&step=2&top_cat=60

Cost was around $80 plus $25 for shipping.


I used the same panels (qty 4 of Renogy RNG-100D) and they are a perfect fit. Because I wasn't hiding the panels between two MaxxFans, I had to experiment with front-back placement because the array can be seen more easily from behind, due to the subtle curvature of the Sprinter roof near the 3rd brake light. I ended up with the rear edge of the panel frame just slightly overhanging the black plastic end of the OEM roof rail.

Didn't need to cut the 7ft aluminum angle at all. Used a jigsaw to cut down the 1.5" bar to make eight square spacers. Each panel is attached to the angle with 2 bolts per short edge (I drilled into the side of the panel frames), and also to neighboring panels with 2 bolts on each long edge. I used 1/4-20 stainless bolts, washers, and nylock nuts.

I placed both aluminum angles on the roof along with one panel and carefully marked hole locations for drilling. Spent the rest of the day indoors doing "mark, measure, drill, repeat". Had everything bolted to the roof a day later.

I overpaid for eight roof sliders from Sprinter Store but could have made my own easily (and have since made extras). IIRC they were just 2" long sections of 1"x1/8" aluminum bar (available at Lowes/Home Depot), with a square hole in the middle, and a 1/4"-20x1-1/4" stainless carriage bolt that drops into the square hole. Don't forget SS washers and nylock nuts as well. If you start by drilling a round hole, you can then use needle files to make it square. A little tedious but doable especially if you plan ahead enough to spread the work over several days, making one or two at a time.

The array shades the roof nicely with around 1-2" of airspace from the roof to the underside of the panels. Very noticable in the summertime with no insulation. The roof was too hot to touch from inside, except for the area beneath the array.

The panels weigh about 66 lbs and the aluminum adds around 22 lbs to that. To bolt it all together I lifted up one side of the array at a time, propping it up with yoga blocks to get my hands underneath.

For a cable entry I used the Linksolar part, mounted underneath the array to keep it out of sight and protect it from dirt, debris and UV. :cheers:

solar-panel-mounting-cross-section.png
 

GeorgeRa

2013 Sprinter DIY 144WB, Portland OR
I used 8020 crossbars for my solar panels mounting and Hein engineered his brackets, which he sells, simplifying my proto design. Make sure to pick your mount to allow an awning mount if you plan to have it. There is clearance require between the roof rail and the solar panel edge so the awning’s brackets can be mounted on the rail.

These brackets are on my van: https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=241501&postcount=277 https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=241507&postcount=288

Hein’s brackets - https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27822&highlight=solar+brackets&page=47 https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showpost.php?p=480496&postcount=10 https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48998&highlight=solar+8020
Hein’s product for sale - http://www.impact3d.com/sprinter_products.htm, sold on e-bay

Based on the amount of work I put into manufacturing my brackets including anodizing I suggest getting them from Hein instead of venturing into doing brackets on your own.

Good luck,

George.
 
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sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
A very good point about the awning.. this design is probably incompatible with having one.

Re: the amount of work involved in making your own brackets

Design matters. One thing attracted me about this one was simplicity and relative ease of construction. Sure, it was a lot of work, but once I had the materials in hand I did it all in a weekend with a cordless drill. Totalling up the cuts and holes for the design I used:

Cuts:
8 flat bar cuts (a 10 minute job with a jigsaw).. these don't need to be perfect

Holes:
8 flat bar spacers = 8 holes drilled.. these don't need to be perfect either
2 roof rails x 4 sliders per side = 8 holes drilled in the 3" side of the angle .. their location needs to be precise in 1 dimension
2 roof rails x 4 panels x 2 bolts per panel short edge x 2 (1 panel+1 angle) = 16 bolts x 2 (1 panel+1 angle)= 32 holes drilled in the 2" side of the angle .. need to be precise in 2 dimensions
3 panel-panel connections x 2 bolts per connection x 2 panels being joined = 6 bolts x 2 panels = 12 holes drilled .. also need to be precise in 2 dimensions

I used 1/4" bolts all around, so all holes were the same size. 8 bolts came with the sliders, so I needed to buy 16 for the panel-angle attachments, and 6 for the panel-panel attachments = 22 bolts.

So in total, construction required 8 cuts and 60 holes, not including fabricating the sliders (because I bought them from Sprinter Store). Most of those holes need to be placed precisely. Since these bolts are sandwiching two pieces of metal together, the hardest part is getting the holes in both pieces of "bread" where you want them to be, but it's all just measuring and addition/subtraction/division, though. A combination square is an easy way to mark two pieces at the same relative position from the edge of the material. A yardstick works in the length direction. Just take your time and measure twice before you drill.

In my case I wanted the top of the panel to be flush with the top of the aluminum angle, and of course the hole in the angle for the slider bolt needed to be located at the center of the roof rail. Neither were particularly difficult constraints to work with.
 
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dynaco1

Member
I used eBay item 131702371613 to fit four renogy eclipse panels onto Sprinter OEM roof rails. I'm sure two will fit side-by-side longways on a 144 high roof. Maybe four.
 

Nomadian

New member
Excellent options. Thanks for the input team. I'm digesting this, do a little more research and then time to put it all together. As we truly get into the build its a bit overwhelming how each task relies on so many others and has implications not foreseen until 3 more steps down the road!
 

Nomadian

New member
I finally got around to this project. Followed sprint2freedom's plan and it came together perfectly! Very pleased. I was able to fit 4 panels behind the fan. If I ever wanted to add a 5th I could pull it off in front.
 

Attachments

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
I finally got around to this project. Followed sprint2freedom's plan and it came together perfectly! Very pleased. I was able to fit 4 panels behind the fan. If I ever wanted to add a 5th I could pull it off in front.
Lookin' good! :rad:

I just ordered two more panels to make it a total of six.. shading the roof makes for a huge temperature difference on a sunny day.
 
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I really like the low-profile invisible from the ground look. I can't tell if the center of the panel actually touches the roof though.
Also, any thoughts on the effects of having the panels so close to the roof versus being higher like the Hein mounts? Efficiency and heat loss? Air turbulence when driving?

This is the first time I have actually seen 400W with 2 MaxFans on a 170. That is encouraging.

Thanks for the write up!
 

N. Coast

Member
Really like the clean look of Hein's tower mounts. He also sends the all info if you are cutting 80/20 bars to size. Perfect fit in to the roof rails.
Click on my name to see 3 - 160 panels and 2 roof fans.
 

asimba2

ourkaravan.com
Really like the clean look of Hein's tower mounts. He also sends the all info if you are cutting 80/20 bars to size. Perfect fit in to the roof rails.
Click on my name to see 3 - 160 panels and 2 roof fans.
I have a set of 80/20 bars cut to the correct length and tapped, completely ready to accept Hein's tower mounts for sale if anyone is interested. I did a video on an install of Hein's solar rack here: https://goo.gl/PZ8DQa



I'm in Sacramento, CA...PM me if anyone is interested.
 

EvanS

Member
Logan,

I looked at your website but don't see any photos where the van has 6 solar panels.

I'd love to know how you were able to put 600W up there.

Thanks in advance!
 

pbansen

Active member
I mounted two Renogy 100 watt panels using the OEM rails and a single 20' stick of 1" aluminum square tubing (1/8" wall) cut into shorter pieces. The square tubing is attached to the rails with a short (~ 3") piece of square tube as a spacer sitting on the rail and a 5/16" elevator bolt with the head ground down slid into the rail and coming up through the spacer tube and the cross tubes, which have a nylock nut on top. I mounted the panels to the tubing using the Renogy brackets.



If anyone is interested, I can take more pictures or provide a more detailed explanation. This provides a low-profile mounting method, minimizing drag, which was my objective, after satisfying the primary objective, which was a solid, safe mount.

Not very visible from ground level.

 
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GSWatson

2013 144
I used two 12’ sticks of 80/20 to make cross beams and the tower brackets, as well as my kayak/paddle board rack. I have 3 Renogy 100w planets, bolted to each other and a piece of 1.5” aluminum angle (1/8”) to tie them together. Has worked great for 50k miles, and though the rack is visible, most people I talk to don’t realize that there are solar panels up there for some reason...





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

sprint2freedom

2008 NCV3 170ext
Logan,

I looked at your website but don't see any photos where the van has 6 solar panels.

I'd love to know how you were able to put 600W up there.

Thanks in advance!
I'm not Logan, although I did steal the implementation idea from his build..

I have a 170ext, so fitting 600W behind a MaxxFan wasn't particularly difficult- although I did have to slide the whole array backwards from where I had it about an inch and a half when I went from 400W to 600W, because the rear of the MaxxFan overhangs the fan flange a couple inches.

Not the best photo, but..

600w-2.jpg

If you look closely, you can see the 84" aluminum angle used for the rear 4 panels, and the 48" angle used for the front two added later.
 

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