Tragedy Narrowly Avoided: Caravan Solar Panel Comes Adrift

There are plenty of caravans on the roads these days and many have solar panels on their roofs – but not all of these panels are properly affixed. This can result in disaster.

Back in October last year, we reported on a tragedy where three people died and four more were hospitalised after a driver lost control near Ross in Tasmania’s Midlands when trying to avoid a solar panel dislodged from a caravan.

This incident was widely publicised, but it doesn’t look as though all caravan owners have heeded the message. A couple of days prior to Xmas, a video was uploaded to AussieCams showing dashcam footage of a solar panel coming adrift  from the roof of a caravan near Eastern Creek in Western Sydney on December 20.

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This is frightening stuff. If the footage doesn’t make the bowels of owners of caravans with solar panels installed go all watery and inspire them to immediately check their vans (after a quick trip to the toilet), I don’t know what will.

Accidents don’t just “happen”, they are caused. Aside from the tragedy through potential loss of life or injury and the costs of damage involved, a solar panel not properly affixed and coming adrift could land the caravan owner in legal hot water as well.

Imagine being the owner of that caravan and arriving at your destination to discover the solar panel was gone. There would (or at least should) be some sleepless nights to follow.

“Suspect Advice” On Affixing Caravan Solar Panels

Truck Friendly, a caravan road safety program, commented on the incident, stating:

“With the increasing number of home handymen doing their own work and so many social media sites often giving suspect advice from unqualified people, it is important that handymen do their research on the correct way and safely to attach their solar panels.”

For example, there are quite a few DIY videos on YouTube showing adhesive-only installations for mounting brackets, forgoing also mechanically fixing the brackets with screws.

But it’s not just social media providing bad advice. When researching for the previous article on this issue, I came across a number of Australian web sites advertising solar panel corner mounting brackets for caravans claiming the brackets can be safely affixed using just a good quality silicone sealant/adhesive. A quick search this morning found this to still be the case.

A bit of common sense comes into play here – sticking a weighty device with a large surface area on the roof of van that could be travelling at 100 kilometres an hour, subjected to vibration and with air flow above and below the panel would suggest careful thought regarding fixing is required. This is really a job for a professional.

But when advertisers, mounting bracket manufacturers, YouTubers and others continue to provide bad advice, addressing the issue of caravan solar panel safety will be difficult and no doubt further close calls – and tragedies – will occur.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/caravan-solar-panel-mb1825/