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Solar Panel 'A' Brackets - Size and Weight Limits


JoeC

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Hello.

I know that I am not going to get an accurate answer to the below as it depends on how strong the brackets are and also the strength of the panel frame but as usual peoples thoughts and experiences will aid me.

 

Mounting solar panels on stainless steel A brackets ... what maximum physical size of panel would you recommend they would take before the panel itself may start to bend and get damaged?

What sort of weight of panel would you say could be a maximum?

 

Cheers

Joe

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9 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Mounting solar panels on stainless steel A brackets ... what maximum physical size of panel would you recommend they would take before the panel itself may start to bend and get damaged?

 

 

I would have thought this would be the same irrespective of the 'strength' of the A-Brackets.

 

Surely the manufacturers would make the frame of the panels sufficiently strong to support the weight of the panel they are framing.

 

Or, am I misunderstanding the question ?

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10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

I would have thought this would be the same irrespective of the 'strength' of the A-Brackets.

 

Surely the manufacturers would make the frame of the panels sufficiently strong to support the weight of the panel they are framing.

 

Or, am I misunderstanding the question ?

Maybe some panel manufacturers expect them to be laid flat and attached via brackets at each corner rather than being balanced in the end middles on A brackets. I'm thinking out loud really and not sure that panel manufacturers would expect them to be laid flat.

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2 minutes ago, JoeC said:

Maybe some panel manufacturers expect them to be laid flat and attached via brackets at each corner rather than being balanced in the end middles on A brackets. I'm thinking out loud really and not sure that panel manufacturers would expect them to be laid flat.

 

 

Possible - mine (from Bimble) had the A-Frame mounting holes ready drilled on the centre line.

 

My panel is about 4' x 3' and I cannot lift it by myself (basically because you cannot get your arms around it to get a grip) and, its HEAVY.

 

Sits well in the A-Brackets and has (so far) survived bouncing about in big waves and storms at sea.

 

 

 

Screenshot (1319).png

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I'm not sure, obviously, but I'd definitely have the swivels on the short side of the panels.

I have mine on a rectangular frame (existing), ie flat, and I did think about tying to fender eyes with rope to form a cross of St Andrews in winter storms, but so far they are still in place. 

I think some of the triangular brackets allow you to lower the panels to lie flat, less likely to take off.

When I was considering my options, I thought the corner brackets were another fairly good option, the triangles are quite expensive, and the price of panels nowadays means you don't need to extract every last ampere per square foot, just add more panels!

Edited by LadyG
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Pointing a panel directly south at 30 degrees elevation gets you about 10% more power than having it flat, is your boat always going to be facing east-west?

Just put 10% bigger/more panels and get the same power without all the aggravation of having a structure above the roofline.

You will notice from the diagram that a flat panel produces 90% of the power in any direction 😎

 

pv_orientation_table.jpg

Edited by Loddon
Adding diagram and reducing loss 🤭
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