Solar Arch - what material

[john manning]

I would suggest a marine grade aluminium. It is lighter then stainless steel for the same strength. It is easier to finish than fiberglass. The only thing you need to be careful about is making sure whoever welds it is competent.

Alternatively with some careful design you can use structural grade glue instead of welding.

[Nepidae]

Can't help with the arch, we have a trawler not a sailboat, so mounting a little different.

I can talk to you about the solar panels having just put solar on our boat.

I mounted 3-220W Xantrex Max Flex panels on our Hard to Top roof over our bridge. We were in a slip uncovered, but covered on each side. We were getting @600Wh while in the slip that I was excited about.

We went out to go anchoring and I was astonished.

We were getting between 2.67 & 2.77kWh per day while on the hook.

What a tremendous production.

Any other questions, let me know.

[jbinbi]

On my lagoon 380 I put up a frame over the davits to hold 2 300 W panels. When looking at materials I decided upon alum vs. SS for a few reasons. 1. cost, 2. wt, and 3., most importantly, it was much easier to find a fabricator who could easily weld alum. Welding SS requires much more skill, maybe boatyards have those people, but w alum you can find any metal shop to do the repair. I used L shape pieces to build the outside with a T piece in the middle to separate the panels. The bottom of the L is what the panel rests on and bolts to.

If I had to do this again, I am thinking I might just build 2 crossmembers each way (think tic tac toe). I would certainly only do that if I mounted it on the hardtop.

[mark0978]

Talk to https://www.atlantictowers.com/
They custom built my arch for a Lagoon 440 and made it extra tall so it wouldn't spoil the view. I have 4 huge panels on mine and he designed all of it including the connections for the solar panels. The panels have been in constant use since late 2015 and everything has gone wonderfully except for some galvanic corrosion on the panels themselves.

I will warn you about something I just discovered when I removed the panels prior to Hurricane Delta. Originally I put the panels up with stainless steel bolts. I insulated the mounting on the arch side with silicone and had no problems. I thought the enameled finish on the panels would protect them, but the stainless bolts, the salt air, and the aluminum did not get along with each other well at all. Get some kind of washer to prevent Galvanic Corrosion from happening to you. I've now got some nylon shoulder washers to protect the panel from the stainless and I'll be using a squeeze silicone on the bottom side because it also helps hold the washer on while I'm adding the nut.