>>>>>"I was going to buy P.V. cells in bulk and turn it into one big solar panel rather then bolt some big clunky production panels to my lovely arched canopy. It will also save me a lot of weight."<<<<<
Wow, that's an ambitious undertaking, though I must say that if your wiring skills are equal to your carpentry skills I don't doubt it can be done. Having a lot of time on your hands will definitely be an advantage! I think the biggest challenge might be getting it all sealed against the elements so all your hard work doesn't corrode to dust in a year or two.
I don't have that kind of time or patience so I'm saving up for some good quality commercial panels. I've been thinking about milling a recess into my hard-top (it's foam cored fiberglass) to lower the profile a bit. Might even be able to remove the aluminum frames and bond the laminated panel assemblies directly to the top.
I haven't really been keeping up on the latest flexible thin-film technology, but last I checked they were much less efficient than rigid crystalline panels. In my case the whole concept of using solar power for propulsion only makes sense if I can do 10 or 20 miles a day at reasonable speed. The highest-efficiency commercial panels should enable me to come close to that.
Jim
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