Mounting a Solar Panel on a Roof Rack on a 2010 Nissan Frontier King Cab  

Question:

Expert Reply:

I spoke with our primary solar panel supplier, GoalZero directly to get some insight into how best to mount a panel to the roof of your vehicle.

According to them, its very common for panels like the Goal Zero Boulder, part # 287-32407 to be mounted to the roof of a vehicle or a roof rack using Z brackets.These brackets are widely available at hardware stores. The sides of the rear frame of the panel are able to be drilled to allow for a variety of connection solutions to your roof rack. Since you have a square rack, this will likely involve a little fabrication in order to properly mount the bar, ensuring that the brackets are stable and connected to your roof rack.

A potential solution can also be a roll or bull bar mount like part # QF90050. This includes a set of steel hose clamps and roll bar mount that you would use in a non-standard way. Since the clamp is not included, we can use the flat mount as the point of connection for your solar panel to the roof rack. This would involve:

1.) Drilling 7/8 inch holes in the side of the frame of the Boulder Panel
2.) Installing the hose clamps with the flat clamp mounts level and aligned.
3.) Bolting the Boulder panel to the top mounting points of the clamp. If you'd like, you could install support of some kind in the lower hole to create a platform for the panel.

Then, you'll run the output cord from the Boulder into the camper shell where your chosen solar compatible charger is located with your battery, letting you charge the battery while the vehicle is parked.

Removing the panel is simply unscrewing the panel from the clamps, or loosening and removing the hose clamps off of your roof rack.

expert reply by: Jacob W

0