Mounting options for solar panels are like sands though an hourglass or stars in a galaxy.
Until we have a reliable and easily installed mounting system for flexible solar panels at sea your way is only limited by your creativity.
What is needed is a (Great idea here for someone with the right tools to Capitalize on) series of U-channel and H-Channel connecting all your panels to a top of pole mount controlled by a 2-axis tracker.
The mount should be universal. Consider
as a great
marine starting point.
A simple pin at the bottom of this pole could conceivably introduce a stow and go feature for storm management based on nema
wind data etc.
So in the end a thin
aluminum frame that encapsulates the outside of the panel to provide rigidity and provide mounting substance.
All the
current solar mounting
hardware (roof/rv) is like huge pieces of aluminum and clips etc. Minimize?
The way I provided the best I could for my panels was to play with the flexible variable and provide more support for that characteristic with a backing that matched the material but provided a dampener thereby retaining some of the panels intrinsic qualities but lessening the degree to which curvature anomalies possibly degenerate panel effectiveness in relation to age (Graph that!).
Would I still like a solid support for the panels sure would but deploying and actually utilizing solar requires hands on experimentation and development.
So Zboss yes I agree aluminum miniaturization and maturity of mounting matrices helps to maximize solar yield. Mounting on arches does not. Solar done properly tracks the sun and in the end that should be the goal.
Restated - "Wind Resistant Flexible Solar Panel Tracker System".
As it is my panels weigh in at 20lbs each set of two plus backing. So for 2160W (12 180w panels) I'll have to add 120 lbs of weight to the boat so safely 140 lbs for the solar considering the
cables,
rope (in my case) and mc4 connectors. I can then read the input via my 100amp shunt.
I do need a better solution for mounting this one shunt though as in that line I need a diode too. Does anyone know how or what diode I would need and how to correctly mount it in line (Panels > Diode > Shunt > Circuit Breaker or Panels > Circuit Breaker > Shunt > Diode)?
I had it rigged up with the diode doing the tests and eventually I believe the diode was bad as I just wrapped some 4ga around it and crimped a ring terminal to it. I was able to push 24 amp that day though so happy with that for sure. That's enough energy to recharge my 400ah 48v
lithium bank in roughly 12 hours or less.
One cut off voltage with
lithium. Enough with this antiquated float/bulk/equalize lead acid stuff.