We have 6 flexible solar panels, each 100 watts, to cover the aft end of the cockpit roof.

Once the roof was glassed over, we fitted the panels for the purpose of finalising the required cabling, prior to removing the panels and completing the roof surface.

As you can see from the photos, the fit is tight, with no space around the outside of the panels. The front two panels only just fit behind the mainsheet traveller that runs across the top of the roof, immediately over the frame at the forward end of the cockpit. The four panels at the aft end are surrounded by roof supporting frames on the top surface of the roof.

These flexible panels have the photo-voltaic cell mounted on a thin aluminium sheet and covered with a plastic film. Junction boxes on the top of each panel are mounted on the roof in adjacent pairs, so that the cables from 2 panels can be dropped through the top skin of the roof together in the one hole, halving the number of holes required in the top surface. Cavities that the cables enter have been wetted-out with resin and fitted with weep holes so that any leak that might develop over the years will not cause any problem.

Once the roof has the final surface of 2-pack paint, the panels will be reattached with adhesive.

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