Roof wrap for solar panel- whole roof or panel coverage?

[BlayneKinley]

Amazing! Thanks @Grim Reaper

I was thinking about clear as I’ve got a colour coded pop top and wanted to not have a contrast colour of vinyl but as I’m going to a completely black solar panel it wouldn’t matter if it was black vinyl. Thank you for the descriptive response.

 

[widu13]

I don't think 3M make a clear 1080 vinyl, but I used matt black 1080 vinyl wrap on mine, about an inch larger all round than the solar panel. The vinyl has grooves in the adhesive side to assist air removal when fitting, once on, the vinyl should be heated to around 100 degrees to 'set' the adhesive.
I used knifeless tape to edge the area I wanted covered, radiused corners help stop the chance of the corners lifting, I enlisted the assistance of a couple of mates to hold the sheet once the backing was removed and as I pressed the vinyl down they lowered the sheet so I could advance the stuck edge, a low heat air gun and a felt pad works wonders for smoothing it into any curves.
Once the sheet is stuck down, pull the cord out of the knifeless tape which cuts the vinyl and remove the tape backing before the final heat treatment to stick it down on the edges.

That sounds proper good- I did the same, but it involved me not being at all professional and just swearing a lot...oh and using knifeless tape didn't even occur to me.

 

[Grim Reaper]

So, a cautionary tale for vinyl wrap users..
I don't know if it was just because I chose to remove my panel on one of the hottest days of the year or some other nefarious reason, but, when I cut the panel off, where I had laid the bead of panel adhesive on top of the vinyl, the adhesive beneath the vinyl was particularly gooey and was the weak point where the nylon string I was using to cut through the panel adhesive chose to cut best, it removed the strip of vinyl beneath the panel adhesive and left the gooey glue beneath.
The rest of the vinyl came off as I would expect, clean and pretty much in large pieces.
Where the panel adhesive has stuck to the solar panel itself (apart from the bit where the label was for some reason) is still well stuck, to the point that I'm going to have to use a sharp metal blade to remove it so I can reuse the panel elsewhere.
Now, I used (and this is where the issue may lie I think) Everbuild EB25 Black adhesive to stick this panel on. I wonder if there is some component of that product that has reacted and leached through the vinyl and changed the make-up of the advesive backing?
It could have been the heat (transferring through from the hot solar panel) softening the vinyl adhesive but as I said, the rest of the vinyl came off as I have seen it before, clean and leaving no residue behind.
The new panel I am fitting, I'm using Sikaflex 252.
Has anyone else removed a panel on vinyl and had similar experiences?
The panel removed..

The EB25 has stuck well to the vinyl but the vinyl adhesive has weakened..

Apart from one of the edges? The vinyl there seems unaffected and I cut through the EB25 to get it off.

 

[Dellmassive]

Awesome info and real life data.....

But the burning question is...... How was your paint work.

Better to use the vinyl to save your paint work?


Or stick direct to paint?

.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Absolutely better to put the vinyl on, the paintwork underneath was untouched, and the new vinyl is on as I write.

 

[Dellmassive]

Good... I was hoping you was going to say that.

I'm a firm believer of vinyl to protect paint work.


But my thoughts might not apply to everyone.

.

 

[Linoleum Bonypart]

I was thinking you could stick half a dozen flexis on top of each other and it would still be less height than a rigid panel

 

[goldeneye243]

What brand of vinyl wrap should I be looking out for please?

The 3m 1080 seems to be about £50 for an appropriate size for putting under a solar panel....

 

[Grim Reaper]

3M 1080 is what I use.

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

What are you all using for cable entry through the roof?

 

[widu13]

What are you all using for cable entry through the roof?

I simply drilled two cable sized holes through the roof outside of the canvas inserted grommets and siliconed them, ran them under the roof and then straight down on the right side to enter the body work through a spare grommet top right of the door opening on my barn doors.

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

I simply drilled two cable sized holes through the roof outside of the canvas inserted grommets and siliconed them, ran them under the roof and then straight down on the right side to enter the body work through a spare grommet top right of the door opening on my barn doors.

I'm assuming you've got a pop top from that description?

 

[jimc91]

What are you all using for cable entry through the roof?

I’ve gone through the existing grommets for the tailgate hinge but then I have barn doors. I use a portable panel when required

 

[widu13]

I'm assuming you've got a pop top from that description?

Yes pop top.

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

View attachment 185286
I’ve gone through the existing grommets for the tailgate hinge but then I have barn doors. I use a portable panel when required

That's a really neat solution! Shame I've got a tailgate

 

[drinfinity]

This is my poptop/tailgate solution

 

[Linoleum Bonypart]

Buy the panel with an underneath entry then you don’t have a mess of wires on the roof

 

[Dan_the_v8man]

Buy the panel with an underneath entry then you don’t have a mess of wires on the roof

That's my plan but I'm still going to have to drill a hole and seal it, wondered if there were any better option than a 20mm grommet and sikaflex

 

[Grim Reaper]

My panel has a rear exit cable that comes through outside the canvas, then it goes inside the canvas via the velcro joint then down into the roof space via a regular rubber grommet, just left a z of cable to account for the roof going up and down.

 

[Hutoa]

Hold up on the non-poptop+tailgate t6, are we saying there are grommets you can use to pass solar cable inside keeping the roof from having new holes? I’m expecting someone to say these are only available/unused if you have a barn door