Flexible solar panels?

[Trident]

The Renology product looks good but unfortunately the dimensions are a little too big for what we want to do. Is there another option you would rate? We are thinking flexible panels on the wheelhouse roof of our Hardy 36.
.

What size have you got to work with? And how much power do you need?

 

[Trident]

One disadvantage of the bimini is that it's likely to be shaded by the boom much of the time. A panel with even a small amount of shade will lose a good part of its output, but you can get round that by fitting a pair so if one's shaded, you still get full output from the other.

A cheaper and, I suspect more robust solution is what I did on my Snapdragon and repeated on my Catalac, fitting rigid panels on the hatch garage. Yes, they'll still be shaded by the boom, but rigid panels are both cheaper and more durable than flexible ones, and a simple frame can be made up from aluminium angle.

True - but with a hatch garage you are probably on looking at a 50w panel in which case the cost difference between rigid and flexi is only £5 and the flexi will just stick on with Sika and is lower profile and if the garage is curved as many are will be a better fit

 

[Stemar]

True - but with a hatch garage you are probably on looking at a 50w panel in which case the cost difference between rigid and flexi is only £5 and the flexi will just stick on with Sika and is lower profile and if the garage is curved as many are will be a better fit

True. With that small a price difference, it's more about what fits. Flexibles claim you can walk on them, though I've seen too many dead flexis to think that's a good idea (maybe they're better now), and a rigid panel with an air gap under it to cool things down a bit will do better when it's hot.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I've fitted flexible panels on the hatch garage and two other places - chosen because you can step on them without damage(unlike rigid panels). I used ETFE panels with a dual pwm controller so both engine and domestic batteries charged.

 

[KeelsonGraham]

I‘ve had a 175 watt panel on the sprayhood all summer and it’s still on now. It’s survived all the gales and is working just fine.

 

[ghostlymoron2]

I've had semi flex panels on all my boats since 2005 with no problems all though I don't still own them all. I think the initial problems have now been resolved. There much easier to fix and I've always used mechanical fixings as I wouldn't trust velcro or magnets. I don't make them removable as I want free electric whenever it's available. (I don't remove the ones on my house when I go out).

 

[010169]

Yes and I used cheap ones 3 years old now and still ok

 

[Greg2]

What size have you got to work with? And how much power do you need?

The roof has curves so thinking flexible are best. It is 136cm in length in the middle and approx 110cm long at each side (talking fore and aft here) and approx 2m wide.

As for power, I haven’t calculated but we have a couple of fridges and after some planned changes will have a domestic bank of four 135ah batteries. I am thinking I want to install the maximum that we can get on the wheelhouse roof, which is just in front of the flybridge in the photo.

 

[samfieldhouse]

I have two Renogy 100w flexible panels.
One is semi-permanently deployed on the spray hood.
The other is deployable - sometimes on the Bimini, sometimes on the foredeck, or even on the underside of the dinghy when I'm carrying that on deck. When not deployed it lives in a bespoke envelope hung up in the quarter berth.

Why would you want to put one away sometimes? Because on a 28ft boat deck space is limited!
Why have them demountable? Because the power gain from being able to move them around is measurable - sometimes a 100% increase in power.

This setup has worked well for me for 3 years. Panels show no signs of degradation. My longest period off grid was 8 weeks with the fridge running 24/7 and working 5 days/week on the laptop.

 

[Trident]

The roof has curves so thinking flexible are best. It is 136cm in length in the middle and approx 110cm long at each side (talking fore and aft here) and approx 2m wide.

As for power, I haven’t calculated but we have a couple of fridges and after some planned changes will have a domestic bank of four 135ah batteries. I am thinking I want to install the maximum that we can get on the wheelhouse roof, which is just in front of the flybridge in the photo.

View attachment 168435

You would fit one of the new 200w Renogy on there or if you need more 3 of the 100w would fit too

 

[Greg2]

You would fit one of the new 200w Renogy on there or if you need more 3 of the 100w would fit too

Thanks. A single 200w would fit but i didn’t figure three 100w would as they are a little too long to get three running fore and aft (one in the middle would be fine but at 1219mm would be too long on each side) and too wide to get three running athwartshi.

 

[Trident]

Thanks. A single 200w would fit but i didn’t figure three 100w would as they are a little too long to get three running fore and aft (one in the middle would be fine but at 1219mm would be too long on each side) and too wide to get three running athwartshi.

Dimensions: 1093.0 x 582.0 x 3 mm
Take a look at the lightweight 100w - they are the same power obviously but shorter.
If you decide you want any of these I can order any for you for direct delivery to you if you want

 

[Greg2]

Dimensions: 1093.0 x 582.0 x 3 mm
Take a look at the lightweight 100w - they are the same power obviously but shorter.
If you decide you want any of these I can order any for you for direct delivery to you if you want

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