Best choice for mounting solar on top of soft bimini

[jbinbi]

Needing some real world experience in mounting solar, soft panels I guess on top of a canvas bimini. Bimini is relatively large, 8 x 10.

I keep hearing the soft panels overheat and burn out after a year or 3? Or have they gotten better. I haven't looked at these in 4 years.

[Peeew]

I have had good luck with mine. Corrugated plastic glued to back and zipper halfs sewn right onto the panels. Of course the other half zipper added to the Bimini along with narrow flaps to sun cover the zippers.

[jbinbi]

Thanks. Do you know what brand of panel? That is what I am looking for as well?

[DeValency]

Better look for semi flexible panels or add a 1/4” starboard panel backing, but flexible panels do not survive for too long. As for the way to mount, speak with a canvas maker, I guess they usually propose zippers to attach.

[jbinbi]

OK. What brand of semi does best?

[Cthoops]

We have two Renogy 100 watt semi-flexible panels attached to our bimini. I sewed a vinyl-type material around the edges to prevent chafing and then attached the panels with heavy duty Velcro. Two years of full-time use so far and they are still working fine.

[Nicholson58]

We built a custom rigid frame. SS and aluminum. Three panels 220 watts each. I made wood an PVC pipe mock ups and had a welder build up in SS. The untouched Bimini is under the soar frame.

[Peeew]

Mine are SunPower E Flex panels from https://www.sunpoweredyachts.com/
I had great service and advice. So far these panels are doing great but I have certainly read that flexible panels might not last long. I really don’t know if that is true, used to be true, repeated by people that built arches, etc. But in my mind it is well worth replacing them in a few years if I can avoid installing an arch. Some like them, I don’t. But when sewn or Velcro’s etc to a Bimini they are pretty much invisible and no added windage.

[Nicholson58]

I haven’t checked in a while but the power density of the flex panels was way lower than the best rigids. There are also way more voltage/power combinations available in rigid panels I think. In order to get improved performance we selected 18% efficient panels with 54 VOC and an MPPT solar controller for 24 volts. At the time, there was nothing in the flex world close to those capabilities. Certainly mor options if you are 12 volts.

[sailm8]

I have 3 "Renolgy" and one unknow Chinese 100w panels. I made an upper mount from SS tubing and put aluminum one inch flat bar stock down their edges to lessen flexing. They sit about 4 inches above the canvas. I had to run an aluminum strap back to my radar pole to lessen forward and back motion. 3 years in and no problems. Charges up by 10am each day.

[hlev00]

Here is a recent post of mine on the subject

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...no-238690.html

[Boatwright]

We have 2 panels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/200W-ETFE-1...item2165381f74, Renogy MPPT controller, 440 AH Trojan batteries

Mounted on a light 1/2" x 1 3/4" mahogany frame, half-lap joints, with one fore and aft crossmember, 6 #10 SS bolts to the bimini frame trough grommets in the canvas. Panels attached with UV resistant zip ties. The frame allows air to circulate under the panels. Fellow club members are often surprised to learn we have solar, as the setup is barely visible. Might not survive a hurricane, but no problems with 50 kt thunderstorms.

These panels are made with ETFE plastic, said to be resistant to UV. They also have a pyramidal lens deal molded into the plastic, designed to focus low angle sun. The panels are "flexible", but will not stand sharp bends, foot traffic, or flapping canvas. The cells are very thin glass and will crack if abused. We are on season #4 with no problems supported by the mahogany frame. 200 watts of panel provide approx. 1 KW hour, 80 AH at 12.8 V per day. We are running a low electrical demand boat: not a lot of electronics, all LED lighting, and a very well insulated 12 V refrigerated top loading box. The Trojans never get below 75%.

This setup provides 100% of our normal northern Great Lakes electrical needs. We do have an high-output alternator, but rarely need it except during prolonged cloudy wx. When the boat is on its mooring, even with cloudy weather, the beer is always cold when we return after days away during the work-week.

[Miker1944]

We have two Solbian semi flex 130 watt panels attached to our Bimini top via Velcro. We sewed the Velcro to the panels, then sewed Velcro to a flap and sewed the flap to the bimini. This way, the panel doesn’t chafe through the sunbrella fabric. Wired each panel to a separate controller to reduce negative effects of shading. Have had these panels up full time for over three years now and they still work perfectly.

[SaltyMetals]

JB,

You hv lots of hard space on a cat but you are asking about mounting on a bimini. In this case you could do what i have done is to add a 144W Solbian flex panel. This is secured with a zipper (you need to get a bimini guy sew the other half onto the bimini for you) and then the zipper is covered with a velcro strip. (again the other half of the velcro needs to be stitched onto the bimini). Look up the Solbian website and figure out which of their panels wld suit yr space. If you take 2 or 3 panels i would recommend you take identical ones so they can all be fed through one MPPT controller (Solbian supplies Victron controllers which are excellent and give you all the charging info in an App on yr phone). If you have different size panels you cannot pass them through the same MPPT and would need another MPPT. Solbian supply different grades of construction and i went for the max , thinking that it is most likely to last the longest.
Andrew
"Genial Bee"
(Adriatic)

[Ardbeg]

I have two Kyocera 240 W panels over my bimini. I had a frame made of the same stainless as the bimini and secured to Bimini frame. Attached solar panels to new frame. Did this in 2011 and have had no problems since.