Solar Panel Mounting Idea

Bill Roosa · Mar 1, 2012

Well you have it ventd from below and that is always good for keeping the panels cool. It does not look very "toe-friendly" though. Given that it just has to hold the panel in place and not get pulled on except by a high wind I'm thinking you could go with wood cross members also. Round them off and fit them into the wood pieces already there for a "craftsman style" look.
Looks nice as is and I think it would work fine as long as you didn't fall or trip on it.

H33CRich · Mar 1, 2012

GorillaToast said:
Cutting to lenght, finishing, and mounting aside...

Does this look like it would work for a solid way of mounting a solar panel?
My boat will be in a slip facing east or west, so it should have little if any shading problems with the boom if I mount it to one side or the other of the pop-top.

I used aluminum edge cap for plywood (1/4 and 5/8) plus square tube (3/4 inch), plus a 1 inch PVC plank to mount my Harbor Freight Solar panels. The two panels supply 30 watts. See pictures attached.

the 1/4 inch edge cap was pressed into the Solar Array Frame
the 3/4 inch square tube was machine screwed into that 1/4 edge cap
the 5/8 inch edge cap was screwed into square tube
the pvc plank was cut to width desired then kerffed to slip over 5/8ths (dressing).
I marked the location of the PVC on the hatch lid, drilled from top down pilot holes, then caulk with 3m 4000, placed the panel in its proper place as marked, and screwed into pvc from below.

Ron20324 · Mar 1, 2012

GorillaToast said:
The easy solution would be two s/s hand rails, but I haven't found any long enough to span the 36" between the hatch rails.

Look in the catalogs and get individual components for handrails. Looks like you should be able to make something that works nice with two end stands and a length of SS tube. Use .49 tube, and i would think 7/8 would suffice for your application.

Click to expand

Merlin Clark · Mar 1, 2012

GorillaToast said:
Thinking more about it, I think I'll get some 1" teak and fashion four mounts about 6-8" long, and 3" tall,with an ogee style curve to the ends. I would put blind screws in thru the shoulders, covering the holes with teak plugs, and then screws the aluminum angle to the tops. my only concern is I can't sink the screws very far into the hatch rails without getting into the dado for the hatch slide.

I do plan to machine 1/2" radius round overs on the ends of the aluminum cross bars, and they will be flush with the outer edge do the standoffs.

The easy solution would be two s/s hand rails, but I haven't found any long enough to span the 36" between the hatch rails.

I like the angle aluminum because the panel is supported in two planes, and I already spent $26 for it.

T- nuts might help with the screws into the hatch rails. Our local Ace Hardware has them in S/S with and without the prongs. More secure than shallow wood screws.

Mike B1026 · Mar 1, 2012

Watts

How many watts?

GorillaToast said:
Cutting to lenght, finishing, and mounting aside...

Does this look like it would work for a solid way of mounting a solar panel?
My boat will be in a slip facing east or west, so it should have little if any shading problems with the boom if I mount it to one side or the other of the pop-top.

Mike B1026 · Mar 2, 2012

It looks to me that it could get in the way if that's the "permanent" position.

Fernando Martinez · Mar 2, 2012

I installed a 1 inch SS pipe arch and bolted two solar panels out of the way this way it doesn't get damage.

Joe · Mar 3, 2012

GorillaToast said:
In the way of what? It'll be raised enough above the sliding hatch, and is well below the boom. I'll have to cut back my canvas hatch cover to just cover the crib boards.

What am I missing?

Sorry, man... but I agree with mike.. I really don't like that location... for one it will always be paritally blocked by the mainsail when sailing. Also may be inconvenient or vulnerable when you're putting up or taking down the mainsail. It may also affect the operation of the hatch... mounting them on top of a dodger is common... but normally you see two smaller panels there, rather than one big one.

For one large panel like yours I'm in favor of an aluminum or stainless frame off the stern rail.

chp · Mar 3, 2012

Fernando Martinez said:
View attachment 49177

I installed a 1 inch SS pipe arch and bolted two solar panels out of the way this way it doesn't get damage.

This to me is the best way to mount the panels. I'm planning on similar for my 3 30 watt panels and combine it into a helmsman bimmini. Their out of the way and free to collect the maximum sun when sailing.

Sumner · Mar 3, 2012

Joe said:
Sorry, man... but I agree with mike.. I really don't like that location........For one large panel like yours I'm in favor of an aluminum or stainless frame off the stern rail.

I agree also. I considered putting a 40 on our sliding hatch on our 26 and just felt that sooner or later I would step on it, especially when tying the reef lines off. Now with lazy-jack and a sail-pack that isn't quite as bad, but I still wouldn't do it.

Like Joe said mount it off the back if at all possible. For sure don't mount it off the side if you sail or will be sailing anywhere with pilings. We learned that the hard way

.

We started with a...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-22.html

....40 watt off the stern. 40 watts isn't much and you will want all the sun you can get on it, so try and avoid the potential for shading like Joe mentioned. We now have ....

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-33.html

..200 watts total up higher where it is out of the way and actually provides some weather protection at times. Does it look good? No, but we couldn 't live without it on longer trips.

I'm close to being done with the mount for 480 watts on the Endeavour and it is all above the bimini,

Sum

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Sum

NotCook · Jul 6, 2012

Sum, I have been wanting to ask, where do you get your SS tubing for your mounts, and what specs do you feel are appropriate (grade, OD size, wall thickness, etc.)?

Thanks.

Sumner · Jul 6, 2012

NotCook said:
Sum, I have been wanting to ask, where do you get your SS tubing for your mounts, and what specs do you feel are appropriate (grade, OD size, wall thickness, etc.)?

Thanks.

Other than the original tubing on the boat everything I've made has been out of 6061 aluminum. Remember though that the boat is basically an inland boat that lives over 90% of the time on the trailer.

The tubing on all of the mounts on the Mac has been 1 inch .065 wall 6061 aluminum. The boat was on the water for 3 months in FL and there or even inland the aluminum is going to 'dull' and not remain shiny like stainless.

I'll start installing the mounts for 480 watts of solar on the Endeavour in the next few days. It is also all 6061, but I went up to .095 wall 1 inch due to the increased weight. I'll see how it all works out. Again this boat will probably be 6 months max at sea per year and the rest of the time will live in the boatyard on stands.

For a boat that is in the water all of the time if you want the looks of stainless go with it. If the mounts for the solar on the Endeavour work out then it would be easy for me to switch to SS, but the 'dull' aluminum doesn't bother us.

I order almost all of my aluminum from onlinemetals.com. Good pricing and service...

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=71&step=2&top_cat=0

... and they also carry SS but I've never compared their SS pricing to other places. Good luck,

Sum

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kenn · Jul 6, 2012

We're not heavy power-users; our battery generally supports a 3-day weekend without recharging. Just this year I started using a 5W panel to keep the battery topped up. For now, when the boat's up on the trailer, I have the panel lying on a cockpit bench, and I put it away when sailing.

I thought about mounting a solar panel on the sliding hatch... but we have a dodger and the panel would interfere with dodger fastening ... and would be shaded by the dodger anyway. Long story short - on our small boat there isn't a suitable spot on the topsides for a permanently mounted panel.

I'm not yet ready to add a pole or arch just to hold a solar panel, so I'm planning to add some padded stand-offs to the panel, and some bungee cord with hooks, so that I can secure the panel to anywhere, when needed.

mark_swart · Jul 6, 2012

What are the rough dimensions of that solar panel? I used to have one about 1 X 1 on a O'Day 272, I actually mounted it to the stern rail, out over the water. It was out of the way and got unobstructed sunlight. I bought a couple of circular mounts that wrap around the rail and bolted it to the panel.

Solar Panel Mounting Idea

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