Well, right now, I’m waiting for Peter Kennedy to get back to town. We’re still trying to figure out how to mount two large solar panels on a smallish boat. The most recent idea that Peter had is to mount the panels on rails that run from the amas to the cockpit railings. These are two photos of the mockup that Peter sent me.
There are two major issues to worry about with this design.
First—since the amas can fold, they may not always be in the exact same position each time—so the mounting system has to have some flexibility in how the solar panel rails mount to the ama and the cockpit railings. The second concern is whether there is any flex between the ama floats and the main hull—if there is, the solar panel mounting rails have to be flexible enough to absorb it without fatiguing. The mounting system also has to be simple enough to mount and unmount, as I need to be able to retract the amas when I’m at the slip.
Both of these concerns can be avoided if we decide to use the fallback position. The last position that might work for the panels, is above the bimini and dodger. This position has the advantage of being able to use the bimini and dodger frames as part of the mounting structure. Unfortunately, the panels are also far more likely to be in the way in this position. The other problems with this position are panel shading, and the panels are more likely to get hit. I’m also not sure how well the panels would fit in this position. We could setup one panel here, but I don’t know if there is enough space for both.
I’m still hoping that I can go down this week and start getting the Pretty Gee ready to bring back and put her in the water this weekend. Unfortunately, it looks like it will probably be more likely to be in the water next weekend. We’ll see what happens. Peter is due back on Wednesday.