Siting solar panel

[Frank mellin]

Have a 26 ft freeman cruiser and am looking to put a solar panel on the canvas canopy roof at back of boat.
Panel is 4ft x 2ft.
The front edge of panel will be secured to the back of the fibre glass roof so will not be any real weight on canvas roof.
Have I missed anything?

 

[Sea Change]

Even if there's no weight, any movement in the wind could rub through the canvas fairly quickly. It might be worth adding some protection.

 

[thinwater]

Have a 26 ft freeman cruiser and am looking to put a solar panel on the canvas canopy roof at back of boat.
Panel is 4ft x 2ft.
The front edge of panel will be secured to the back of the fibre glass roof so will not be any real weight on canvas roof.
Have I missed anything?

Photos.

Flexible panels require rigid support (they don't like even limited repeated flexing). A rigid panel can support itself.

 

[dunedin]

Photos.

Flexible panels require rigid support (they don't like even limited repeated flexing). A rigid panel can support itself.

So how come our semi-flexible panels have worked for 8 years on top of a canvas sprayhood, including several F10 storms)
Attaching via “industrial” style 2 inch wide Velcro holds firm and avoids any chafe.
Another semi-flexible panel sits on the dinghy seat and gets regularly bent as put in and out. Also been fine, though replaced at 7 years as precaution.

 

[lustyd]

Sort of agree with both sides. They work on canvas just fine but if you have a stainless frame and can mount it more robustly then do that. Raise it up with a spacer and have a little frame to make it more rigid and it’ll also get some cooling from air beneath it. Even better, replace the canvas with something harder to mount solar to if the canvas never gets lowered.

 

[Trident]

If the flexi panel has grommets at the corners for screws, bolt through them to 4 neodymium magnets and then use another 4 under the hood to secure it in place magnetically . I've done several boats like this and they have been tested to 30 knots or more with zero problems over (for the longest one) 4 years . if you use a long cable it means in heavy wether you can quickly dismount it and put it on the cockpit floor etc out of the wind without disconnecting . Very quick and easy to do with about £10 outlay from Amazon for the magnets

 

[thinwater]

So how come our semi-flexible panels have worked for 8 years on top of a canvas sprayhood, including several F10 storms)
Attaching via “industrial” style 2 inch wide Velcro holds firm and avoids any chafe.
Another semi-flexible panel sits on the dinghy seat and gets regularly bent as put in and out. Also been fine, though replaced at 7 years as precaution.

Not everyone gets cancer from smoking. However, expereince has revealed it to be a risk factor. Same with bending semi-flexible panels. It's right in the manual. Firm support is required to avoid fracturing cells.

In this case, the quality of the panels helps; good panels better tolerate rough use.

 

[geem]

If the flexi panel has grommets at the corners for screws, bolt through them to 4 neodymium magnets and then use another 4 under the hood to secure it in place magnetically . I've done several boats like this and they have been tested to 30 knots or more with zero problems over (for the longest one) 4 years . if you use a long cable it means in heavy wether you can quickly dismount it and put it on the cockpit floor etc out of the wind without disconnecting . Very quick and easy to do with about £10 outlay from Amazon for the magnets

I tried magnets. It didn't work for us. Caribbean has some windy weather.
Flexi panels failed from micro cracking, probably from the windy weather flexing them on the suncover.
We now have framed panels that are far more robust.
My new framed panels far exceed the performance we achieved from flexible panels, even when they were brand new

 

[Sea Change]

If the flexi panel has grommets at the corners for screws, bolt through them to 4 neodymium magnets and then use another 4 under the hood to secure it in place magnetically . I've done several boats like this and they have been tested to 30 knots or more with zero problems over (for the longest one) 4 years . if you use a long cable it means in heavy wether you can quickly dismount it and put it on the cockpit floor etc out of the wind without disconnecting . Very quick and easy to do with about £10 outlay from Amazon for the magnets

What's the compass safe distance for a neodymium magnet

 

[Stemar]

One problem with a permanent mounting on the canopy is that you will no longer be able to fold it away on a nice day.

Assuming it's one of these,

Could you get creative on the cabin top, forward of the mast?

 

[geem]

If the flexi panel has grommets at the corners for screws, bolt through them to 4 neodymium magnets and then use another 4 under the hood to secure it in place magnetically . I've done several boats like this and they have been tested to 30 knots or more with zero problems over (for the longest one) 4 years . if you use a long cable it means in heavy wether you can quickly dismount it and put it on the cockpit floor etc out of the wind without disconnecting . Very quick and easy to do with about £10 outlay from Amazon for the magnets

I forgot to mention that neodymium magnets are ferrous and rust for fun. They stain fabric with rust and mark the deck. Absolutely not appropriate for a marine environment.