Solar Panel 700x640 80w is it too big

[Rhylsailer99]

I bought the solar panel really cheap only £39.00 80w and some noa rails to attach to the rails at the back of my boat.
The solar panels with the attachments weighs around 5kg. Would that put a lot of strain on the stanch ens.
Currently half way through a maths degree and on the topic of torque. It made me think about the wind hitting the large panel and the torque down below where its attached.
I was going to place the panel on the right side in the pic and put the floatation horseshoe on the other side.

 

[Sandy]

Panels that size have been used all across the known universe and to date no deaths have been recorded.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I bought the solar panel really cheap only £39.00 80w and some noa rails to attach to the rails at the back of my boat.
The solar panels with the attachments weighs around 5kg. Would that put a lot of strain on the stanch ens.
Currently half way through a maths degree and on the topic of torque. It made me think about the wind hitting the large panel and the torque down below where its attached.
I was going to place the panel on the right side in the pic and put the floatation horseshoe on the other side.

It will be fine, my last boat had a bigger panel than that, mounted on a pole, been there for years without an issue.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Panels that size have been used all across the known universe and to date no deaths have been recorded.

It’s actually 0.44 deaths per TWh of solar energy use, compared to 100 by coal. While the statistical norm does not break it down to panel size or method of dying, statistically, solar panels of the size being discussed, will not have a zero probability of death.

The OPs stanchions look very robust. Mine are single rail, and I have a lot of kit, outboard, danbuoy, horseshoe, life sling, with a roughly similar area to a solar panel, and in decades of use in some strong winds, it has never been an issue regarding strength of stanchions.

 

[Rhylsailer99]

What made me worry was a post I seen about cobta 850 stanchions being prone to cracking. I will look forward to watching the amps rise to power my fridge during summer.

 

[Rhylsailer99]

It’s actually 0.44 deaths per TWh of solar energy use, compared to 100 by coal. While the statistical norm does not break it down to panel size or method of dying, statistically, solar panels of the size being discussed, will not have a zero probability of death.

The OPs stanchions look very robust. Mine are single rail, and I have a lot of kit, outboard, danbuoy, horseshoe, life sling, with a roughly similar area to a solar panel, and in decades of use in some strong winds, it has never been an issue regarding strength of stanchions.

I suppose with the boat on a swinging mooring the wind should always just glide past.

 

[Martin_J]

I hope your rail is 25mm diameter (if you bought that size).

My rails were 1" and NOA didn't seem to do that size mount when I bought them.

A bit of sandpaper and it didn't take too long to adjust the bushes within the mounts from 25mm to 25.4mm.

Your rails do look substantial enough to mount on though.

 

[rotrax]

I have 2 X 200W Monocrystal Rigid panels. They are each 1 metre square.

700 X 640 is quite large for the 80W output. Perhaps they are older tech.

 

[Dellquay13]

I have 2 X 200W Monocrystal Rigid panels. They are each 1 metre square.

700 X 640 is quite large for the 80W output. Perhaps they are older tech.

700 x 640 MM is roughly 45% of the area of 1000x 1000, so the output is about right.