Hi,
I’m planning on
extended cruising next year on our
Catalina 470. We have an aging panda
generator that works well but I would like to add
solar to give me redundancy. I’ve had
advice from installers as to the best approach as indicated below and am trying to decide what is the best solution:
1/. add 4 semi flexible
panels to
canvas bimini and 2 to canvass
dodger: total capacity 600 watts. Installer recommends zippering to a large piece of sunbrella which in turn gets zipped to existing
canvas.
Concern: aethetics (very important to me), shade from boom/performance,
bimini leaks
Advantage: lower cost ?
2/ install stern arch with 4
panels
Concern: weigh aloft, cost
Advantage: less shade, better looking
I would be very interested in hearing from others cruisers as to their comments or suggestions.
thank you,
Tim Holley