Does a solar panel need an air gap?
Last year, I bought a 2007 model Bessacar E560 motorhome and shortly afterwards had a 110w solar panel fitted to the roof by a Bessacar dealer in Chirk. I also had a second leisure battery fitted so that the solar panel could keep them both topped up. The
firm that fitted it sealed the panel to the roof all round so that there is no air gap: they said it wasn't necessary. I asked whether the solar panel could also be used to keep the vehicle battery topped up, but they said that that it couldn't.
The system has worked very well, but now (a year later) I have taken my motorhome to a firm near Wakefield that specialises in fitting satellite dishes to have an Oyster 3 fitted. The fitter told me that it is dangerous not to have an air gap beneath the
solar panel because the panel could overheat. He also said that there would be no difficulty at all to arrange for the solar panel to keep the vehicle battery topped up as well as the leisure batteries. I am now confused and concerned that either the solar
panel has been fitted incorrectly and dangerously or that the satellite dish fitter is trying to persuade me to have unnecessary extra work done. Can someone please tell me which of these firms is giving me the correct information?