Bimini top made with solar panels

[fxykty]

Has anyone made a bimini top out of solar panels? I’ve seen one catamaran that had done that, but can’t find any images.

Our catamaran has a stainless steel tube frame supporting a canvas bimini and with a central walkway. We want to replace it with a hard bimini top, primarily to get rid of the leaking, but also to extend the covered area. Since most of the area will be covered with solar panels anyway, except for the central walkway, and the cost of making a fibreglass top is quite expensive, we’re thinking of just using solar panels and foregoing the fibreglass.

Has anyone done this?

Is it leakproof?

Is it feasible to put an edge around the perimeter for hand holds and to mount clears?

[tkeithlu]

The panels themselves are not likely to have the structural strength needed to form a top- they are engineered to support the solar membranes themselves, not someone grabbing the edge to avoid landing on one of Mark's manatees. However, the frame you build to support the panels can also be strong enough to do whatever you want, including being waterproof and supplying handholds. Design for the most demanding tasks, and then mount the panels on top of it.

[Pete7]

CF members Matt and Jessica who are up to their eye balls in epoxy at the moment, built a hard top which yo might be interested in:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAuY...nnel=MJSailing

[Sand crab]

Parlay is doing that on his Lagoon 450. He's had the SS frame built and the panels mounted. Now he's building the honeycomb/fiberglass inserts. You can see it all near the very end of this vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94kq6eZBxQ

[Mike OReilly]

I have. I built my bimini from scratch. Designed it myself. Bought the ss tubes. Had a local canvas maker do the bends. Then I cut and fit it, and mounted the panels using simple U-bolts.

A cat is going to require a different approach given the area you need to cover, but I'm sure it's possible.

[dougweibel]

Why you want a bimini will inform the direction you go. If you just want shade then something like Mike's should fit the bill. If you want rain protection then you will really be thinking more towards mounting solar panels on top of a bimini than using solar panels for the bimini.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by dougweibel

Why you want a bimini will inform the direction you go. If you just want shade then something like Mike's should fit the bill. If you want rain protection then you will really be thinking more towards mounting solar panels on top of a bimini than using solar panels for the bimini.

Yes, we do want rain protection. We have three panels mounted side by side over our davits in an aluminium frame and they don’t leak even though they are metal to metal. I don’t see why that shouldn’t be the case for panels above the cockpit using a similar frame and gaskets. But we’re looking for other mounting options.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Parlay is doing that on his Lagoon 450. He's had the SS frame built and the panels mounted. Now he's building the honeycomb/fiberglass inserts. You can see it all near the very end of this vid.

That’s awesome, thanks. Some good ideas there for us.

His panels are mounted on top of round stainless steel tubes, then sealed but not fastened (as far as I could see) to each other. I’m wondering whether there will be too much movement to keep the seals intact?

[GoneDiving]

The trawler behind me in the slip way made a very large Bimini out of panels and aluminium angle. All up it was about 6000w. Worked very well as a shade/rain catcher/ solar generator. The panels essentially sat in channels edge to edge. No rain water fell through, it ran to a collection point.

Note that it had no loading beyond falling rain. You couldn't walk on top.

I'd definitely do the same if I wanted something that wasn't load bearing.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Yes, we do want rain protection. We have three panels mounted side by side over our davits in an aluminium frame and they don’t leak even though they are metal to metal. I don’t see why that shouldn’t be the case for panels above the cockpit using a similar frame and gaskets. But we’re looking for other mounting options.

It would be easy to install gaskets or gutters to our panels. My plan has been to do just that so I can then use them as a means to collect rain water.

[mickand]

I lost my canvas but wanted to keep the frame.
Laid out 2 - 4x8 shower panels ($80 from Home Depot) side by side on a flat concrete floor, laid 2 layers of 1.5oz fiberglass and bolted what was now a hardtop to the frame using pipe clamps. Reinforced the frame with a couple of stainless struts and fixed 8 100 watt flexible solar panels on top.
It's worked well for 2 years but not convinced as to the efficiency of flexible solar panels

[billgewater]

Originally Posted by GoneDiving

The trawler behind me in the slip way made a very large Bimini out of panels and aluminium angle. All up it was about 6000w. Worked very well as a shade/rain catcher/ solar generator. The panels essentially sat in channels edge to edge. No rain water fell through, it ran to a collection point.

Note that it had no loading beyond falling rain. You couldn't walk on top.

I'd definitely do the same if I wanted something that wasn't load bearing.

Have seen a similar arrangement using aluminium U shaped channel. The panels could also be tilted to optimise incident sunlight but I never saw this happening. The water catchment facility was also used. Certainly not trafficable but much cheaper than constructing a fully water proof surface to mount the PV panels on. Any PV panel could be removed by lifting it and aligning it along the diagonal and then lowering it onto the deck.

Maybe you could even use PVC channelling instead of aluminium if adequate support can be arranged.

Considering that PV panels are now so common it is surprising to me that new boat manufacturers don't consider well integrated PVs on mew designs.

[Chotu]

A little late to the game, but, I had a Bimini someone else constructed on a previous catamaran. They used aluminum tubing as a frame and solar panels. It worked great. But they also pulled some vinyl and lashed it to some of the tubing in order to make it completely watertight. The panels by themselves will be very tricky to make water tight. You’ll need to add something else to keep the drips away.

[Ken Pole]

Check out Sailing Uma's installation on YouTube; it has taken them from the Caribbean to very high latitudes.

[cottonsail]

Having the boom over your solar panels will cost you 30 to 50% of your output.