Mounting Flexible Solar Panels on Bimini

[felizcortez]

I just had a bimini and dodger installed on the boat and am looking at installing flexible solar panels on top of each. I've attached a diagram for reference, but had a few questions.

1. Should the panels be mounted lengthwise so that they run on top of the bows or should they be mounted so they run port to starboard and avoid sitting over the bows?

2. Any particular panel manufacturers people prefer for the flexible ones. I'm trying to figure out sizes that will fit either in the lengthwise or horizontal positions to maximize output. So far it looks like most flexible panels are in the 100-150 watt range.

3. I thought about installing hard panels, but that will require more stainless steel work and I don't think it will look good.

4. Our house bank will be about 470Ah - 4x 6V Golf Card 235Ah batteries. We will be cruising the Sea of Cortez so what would be a good amount of output to charge amount of battery capacity.