Frame for solar panels

[misterjenkins]

There are loads of companies online who will make up "aluminium composite road sign blanks" just Google that phrase. They're pretty cheap, work brilliantly with flexible panels, and you can get mounting brackets for attaching them.

We have a pair of these on the pushpit rail.

 

[Kelpie]

There are loads of companies online who will make up "aluminium composite road sign blanks" just Google that phrase. They're pretty cheap, work brilliantly with flexible panels, and you can get mounting brackets for attaching them.

We have a pair of these on the pushpit rail.

What's the advantage of a flexi panel mounted on a backing plate, vs a (much cheaper) rigid panel?

 

[sailinglegend420]

What's the advantage of a flexi panel mounted on a backing plate, vs a (much cheaper) rigid panel?

They are only 1-2mm thick and therefore weigh much less than a rigid panel which is why they can be mounted on a bimini.

If they are mounted directly on a rigid surface like a deck or solid sprayhood they don't need a backing plate, and they will bend to the required shape. Mine are mounted on a reinforced Bimini and are made more rigid with sail batterns glued with Sikkaflex. Without this they can bend too much in a big wind, or worse when being taken down and stored below.

 

[sarabande]

What about the recommendations that solar panels should have an air gap between the panel and the substrate ?

 

[PaulRainbow]

What about the recommendations that solar panels should have an air gap between the panel and the substrate ?

That's not applicable to semi-flex panels, they are usually glued or screwed to the deck.

 

[Lightwave395]

You might find it helpful, once you have determined more-or-less what you believe you want, to make a mockup using plumbers' merchant PVC piping of a suitable diameter. T-junctions and elbow bends are push-fit - at least initially - and revisions and 'mishtooks' are far easier and cheaper to remedy. Then you can use your 'mockup' - all glued up - as a template, or to take to a fabricator without the multiple ambiguities of a 'techie drawing'.

Never mind the 'mock-up', I made my frames out of 21mm plastic waste pipe using 'T's and elbows, they weigh and cost next to nothing, look fine, do the job perfectly and keep the semi rigid panels off the deck

 

[Alskade]

You might find it helpful, once you have determined more-or-less what you believe you want, to make a mockup using plumbers' merchant PVC piping of a suitable diameter. T-junctions and elbow bends are push-fit - at least initially - and revisions and 'mishtooks' are far easier and cheaper to remedy. Then you can use your 'mockup' - all glued up - as a template, or to take to a fabricator without the multiple ambiguities of a 'techie drawing'.

Sounds like a plan

 

[Alskade]

What about the recommendations that solar panels should have an air gap between the panel and the substrate ?

That’s worth knowing .... thank you