Are solar panels waterproof enough to be part of roof?

[Lgboro]

I am about 3 or 4 weeks away from getting my tear campable and already planning a new project for a trip summer '13. My plan is to build a tear structure on a rescue pontoon boat (5' by 14' platform). The boat is able to handle 900 lbs. of structure, gear and me and the research so far looks to be very stable and capable of the intended use. I think I would need to incorporate a solar panel as part of the roof structure to allow for the panel weight. Without the weight of the trailer my early thinking is that I can make the required weight and still have a water haven from the sun and adverse weather with minimal conveniences.

The trailer and boat will weigh around 1500 lbs total and towable with many small vehicles. Rough cost estimates will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10'000 (boat motors -even small ones- are expensive) but one can stay many places along large lakes and Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway without fees.

Sorry for the long explanation but thought the question required some extra background . The original question is ---Are commercial solar panels waterproof or would I have to build a homebuilt solar panel to be waterproof enough to incorporate into the roof of my mini house boat?

[Shadow Catcher]

They are or can be made water proof easily, the cells are encapsulated and in a frame and it would be a simple task to either incorporate the fram into the structure or just use mounts and put it on top.

[Engineer Guy]

Sharp PV Panels are widely used around here, and must withstand rough CO Weather. Shown below are 180 Watt Panels [min spec; usually exceeded]. See 1/2 of a ~10 kW Residential install here; 27 x 180 Watts:



Boulder County puts the hyphen in 'A-R' in terms of Codes, so I'm guessing the Array above had to be spec'd to 100 MPH at least... The base of the Rockies is seriously windy in the Spring.

Sharp PV Panels

The lil L Brackets seen in the pic above, and the Channel Hardware that Bolt Heads slip into, are all mature Hardware. The usual method is to mount the Panel JUST up and off the Roof. If you wanted to do that, you'd need only put, say, some Metal Roof Panels on your Boat from a Big Box or Ranch Store, and capture the Panel[s] at the Roof peak and lower edge. This might simplify things. Isolating the 'sealed Roof over your Head' function from the 'generating power' function might be something to consider. Sounds like an interesting Project you've got going.

Solar Shingles were launched nearby us down in Golden CO at NREL [National Renewable Energy Lab]. As the term 'Shingle' implies, they tolerate Roof conditions. There's also classic-design 3 Tab Shingles out there that are Solar PVs. They interconnect together using lots of lil Red and Black Wires.

Solar Shingles

[madjack]

http://www.protatch.com/Rescue%20Boat.htm ...is this pontoon boat you are thinking of using...the specs meet what you posted...camping on large lakes and along the intercoastal...interesting concept but, I havvta wonder about the boats, water handling capabilities in those type of waters...I have a 21' Tracker pontoon boat and have thought about doing similar...my experience with big water and my boat, leave me to not wanna get into REALLY big water and it is higher and has more freeboard than the one posted.............
madjack

[asianflava]

The panel place I worked at made frameless panels. One sheet of glass had the PV material deposited on the back, then there was another sheet of glass glued to the back that protected the deposition layer and the buss bars.

It would be the same as having 2 sheets of glass for a roof. I suppose if you could figure out how to frame and glaze it, it could work. They don't sell to individuals though.

[Lgboro]

MJ, stability is a concern of mine and I am trying to find more information in this area. I do a fair amount of flounder gigging on some less than optimal rigs but don't want to put myself in too much peril. I have seen pictures of the Protatch Aluma 15 handling some fairly heavy water on the Mississippi and a couple claiming that the boat handles waves very well. Of course I couldn't get the company to commit to much, but didn't really expect them to due to legal concerns. The boat drafts very little water and I would like to know how well it does in a gust of wind similar to what I have been caught in the past also. Hopefully I can locate more information in this area as I get further along in my planning, if not, I may run across a more suitable vessel as and option. On my budget I'll have to get it right the first time so I'll do the necessary research.

[madjack]

...some thoughts...my 21'pontoon boat has 25" diameter pontoons and it sits a fair bit higher that the one your considering...a good wind tends to blow it around pretty good so, keep your profile as low as possible...the biggest waves I have been in, have been around 3' and from the side, will rock you very noticeably...it does well going into the waves BUT, from what I have seen from mine and others, at some point, they will want to come over the front, at which point it wants to "wash" the whole deck off so, some sort of deflector on the front may be in order...like I said, I have considered doing similar with a 5x8 cabin fitted on the 8x19 deck of mine for use on the small(er) rivers and lakes we have around here..................
madjack

[Lgboro]

Got a lot more research to do but I'm thinking a folding outrigger type system that would help in emergencies. May never get built but I am leaning toward a build after my 2012 cross country trip unless I find that my design is too flawed.