Gary,
I enjoyed your website before joining this forum and used your brake-light wire routing idea for my roof camera yesterday; one less hole in the roof = Good

thanks!
One reason I combined the solar panel wires Inside the van is to avoid going on the roof; your point on considering roof access is well-taken. I see people with ladders mounted on vans which seem tempting for thieves, drunks, teens, (and drunken teen thieves

)
I agree that the ladder rack mount would add additional height, drag and stress. I used 1" aluminum square to keep panels off rooftop for cooling.