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Originally Posted by dandrews
Very nice installation.
Wonder if you could shorten the outermost braces about an inch thereby getting an ever so slight tilt to the panels and dump rain. Even a 1 degree tilt would be helpful and not lose too much sun angle.
Great job,
Don
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That's true, they do get pools of rain on them, which then allows the
water to evaporate instead of drain, leaving any contaminants on the panels. Happily there is often wave action in the
mooring field to drain them. A very slight angle might work, but these two panels are in series (because they charge a 48v
propulsion bank; lower voltage systems should have them in parallel) and connected to a
MPPT controller. If they are at different angles, they will feel different solar input and the controller will never find a good solution and I think I've heard it can go to the lowest common denominator adjusting things for the panel aimed more away from the sun.
Quote:
Screw and caulk a strip of plexiglass in the center.
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I've thought about something like that, and have to consider the backstay that moves a bit in there. Probably the next time I'm motoring in the rain, I'll be motivated to close that small gap.
Thanks Don and endoftheroad.