EFTE Flexible Solar panels - all that bad?

[sailingunity]

I'm building a hard dodger and will have a space roughly 56 inches long by 96 inches wide to place solar panels. One of the reasons for the hard dodger is for more solar, but I also wanted a way to access the aft end of the boom and sail, e.g. by walking on the dodger top.

I had pretty much ruled out flexible panels due to what I've heard about them (short life mainly), I think PET coatings had something do with this, but also wrong application (for example sewn to a soft bimini with little support). Supposedly EFTE coatings are more durable, but I haven't heard from real life users if this has really increased life.

That being said, I'm huge on aesthetics, and I think flexible or semi-rigid panels on the dodger will look vastly better than rigid panels. I know there are companies that make semi-rigid walk on solar panels - but I'm not sure I'm prepared to pay what they are asking for them. But if a panel like this one is rated to withstand hail damage, what are the chance occasionally walking on it would cause harm?