Installing a Xantrex Solar Max 330W Panel to our Sailboat's Bimini Canvas (EP 67 - Monday Never)

We recently upgraded the solar on our sailboat by installing a 330W Xantrex Solar Max panel on top of our bimini canvas.
This video showcases:
- Why we chose a Xantrex Solar Max Panel
- Why we chose to mount it onto our bimini
- How we installed the panel so that it could be easily removed
- Sewing a canvas backing with zippers and a weather strip
- Lessons learned
- Full performance review after sailing over 1,000 miles in 2 months
If you have any questions about our process or the performance we have seen, share I. The comments section or send us an email. For more information, please visit www.xantrex.com
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[@captrandy3307]

I am new to your channel. Great video and impressive job with the canvas work! I checked the price of the Xantrex 330W panel - yikes! IMHO, I would go with two Renogy 175W panels for about 1/3 of the cost. They have great customer support and warranties. If one panel goes, you still have 175 watts of power being produced (I like redundancy). You can even buy an extra one for $270 and have it as a spare stored under a bunk mattress (it will fit easily). In your case, it was an obvious choice given the price!😀

[@txvet8474]

Great video, goes right up in the top 5 of DIY for boats. Great explanations and easy to follow directions. Thank you and fair winds. 😀😀

[@Mondaynever]

Well thank you so much for that!! Hope to see you out here!

[@svZia-Switch51]

Nicely done!

[@MY_SOLACE]

Great video as always. 👍

[@chrisfox5525]

Neat job guys!

[@soanonso]

Awesome project. Thanks for sharing the details.

[@briandale8386]

Looks good, clean and neat. I’m sold thanks

[@RudiRednoseChannel]

Thanks guys, good job! Cheers

[@robertroot3790]

Excellent DIY project video, thx!

[@4bracesdro]

Very informative video well done! Thank you

[@SailingSoulianis]

Nice work! That looks really slick!

[@Mondaynever]

Thanks guys!!!

[@elirocha8548]

Got this with a ecoflo delta max generator. Peak watt input was 208. Southern california 90+ degree weather. Clear sky. Very nice build. Sturdy. Strong.

[@everydaysaturday]

Great video! Seriously going to consider xantrex now! You & Will are such naturals on the camera! Big fan here! Keep the videos coming!!!

[@Mondaynever]

Love you guys the most 😘😘😘

[@jwantify]

How is this panel holding up; what peak output are you seeing now?

[@edvargas3045]

Great video, one question, does it get any hotter underneath the bimini in full sun? or about the same as without the panel?

[@jamescapstick916]

i would recomend sewing a band of sunbrella to cover the zip about 3 inches wide.

[@tigersharkzh]

Keep an eye on the panel where it goes over the cross-beams. The first sign of an issue will be invisible and only measurable with a laser thermometer. I don't know if manufacturers have this issue under control with the modern designs, but in the past this has been a fire risk that has led to many boat fires.

[@Mondaynever]

Hi Andrew, we address that in the video. That was a concern when we were in the selection process. We talked with Xantrex’s engineering team and they were confident that we would not have any problems. So far, so good. There is no uneven heating on the panel (as measured by IR temp gun) and certainly no visible signs of damage or wear. We’ll continue to monitor it.

[@-TruthHurts]

nicely made video, thx for sharing... the flex panel certainly is the top choice for the bimini, looking at your set up i was wondering if you could just rotate the rigid panel aft by 90° and fit two more similar panels with reasonably little modification needed?

[@Mondaynever]

We thought a lot about that. The problem is the length of the panels. They would either stick really far out or crowd our transom. It just didn’t feel like we had the room to do it well without making our boat look super goofy.

[@jackwmoody]

Great Video. Kat I just noticed I've got the same sewing machine as you. I love it.

[@Mondaynever]

It’s a great little machine! Nice and light. Easy to take out. And works for most applications. Really happy with it!

[@karlbass7895]

@@Mondaynever Can you share what make, model, accessories or other details you feel might be of value? Thanks.

[@Mondaynever]

@@karlbass7895 the sewing machine is a Singer Heavy Duty. I use it for all of our basic boat sewing as well as for making clothes. For canvas work you’ll need heavy duty needles, but no other fancy accessories other than the right kind of thread. Depending on the sewing project, the supplies will differ, but Sailrite has amazing videos that outline how tos and everything you need. Hope that helps! I thought I “needed” a sailrite, but actually have been very happy to have a lighter machine on board.

[@karlbass7895]

@@Mondaynever Thanks for the reply. Google shows a few different model numbers of Singer Heavy Duty machines (e.g. 4452, 6800, etc.). There are a couple of canvas stitching projects in our future and I really would like a small, lightweight machine that is up to the task, as it appears yours is. Can you tell me which model # you have that has the "guts" to stitch through reasonably heavy marine canvas (sunbrella?) without jamming? Thx

[@kdx1742]

I have the 4452 and am very pleased. The last project was dinghy chaps for our Highfield . Same style as in the Sailrite video, and the machine did great ! 110/18 needles!

[@svestancia]

Nice video.. the only thing I’ll be a bit scared of is that the breaker from the controller to the batteries should be closer to the battery, not the controller. Just to,protect the wire from a big sour of power (battery bank). If not mistaken, as per ABYC recommendation, n9 more than 7”… which of course is hard to accomplish, but I guess you got the point..

[@Mondaynever]

This is great feedback, thanks. I pulled up ABYC E-11 and sure enough, they require fusing 7” from the battery. Makes total sense to protect the wiring from that end, not close to the controller, so that’s a big oversight on my part. Our installation is slightly different in that the solar wiring goes to a bus bar, not directly to the battery terminal, so presumably that just means that the fuse must be within 7” of the bus bar. The wire is only ~2’ long, so it’s not totally outrageous, but we try to keep the boat up to ABYC spec, so I’ll relocate the breaker asap. Thanks for the heads up!

[@svestancia]

@@Mondaynever yes.. you can instal the breaker before the busbar, but there should also be a big fuse between the busbar and the battery.. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@edfrhes]

Nice job but that looks pretty difficult. Looks nicer than my panels. My sunbrella is wearing out. Trying to figure out what my I'm going with in a year or so. Perhaps solar panels of some sort for shade and more power. Getting by with 200w now.

[@davidstoen4005]

Did you have any trouble with the thread gumming up with adhesive when you sewed it to the canvas bimini? I do a lot of sewing, you guys did a nice job.

[@Mondaynever]

Hey David. Good question. The needle did get gummed up a good bit with the tape. I think there are some tricks to avoid that (maybe rub the need in hard soap first?) but I didn’t do any of that. The tape made things a lot easier though, so even though it causes a bit of sewing frustration at time, I wouldn’t do it differently. Thanks for watching!! - Cat

[@donaldmitchell6994]

We installed 840W of solar panels on our Beneteau 49 on a custom hard bimini. In 8 years of usage they worked 100% of the time and kept batteries charged every day. If these panels had been available, they would have provided a much better (less costly) solution. Very nice installation video too. Do you know how Xantrex improves the output when shaded?

[@g.y.p.s.y.]

what company did you use?

[@livingonmytime1076]

Hey guys. I know the panel was a collab piece but do you have any idea on cost of the panel??? Great vid. Navigate safe🤙🤙

[@kingwr12]

Since you put it on a separate canvas above the bimini, was there an opportunity (and an area on the panel itself) where you could have put in double-cap rivets to rivet the panel to the canvas, in addition to the adhesive?

[@Mondaynever]

Hey Randy, there is space around the border of the panel in which you could theoretically drill holes for rivets/fasteners, but I expect that it would void the 5 year warranty on the panels if you did that. A belt-and-suspenders approach with adhesive plus fasteners would make for additional peace of mind, so we’ve given feedback to Xantrex that pre-drilled holes/grommets would be welcomed by customers installing on canvas. With that said, the adhesive on our panel is performing excellently. When we install an additional 220w Xantrex Solar Max panel on our hard dodger (smooth gel coat surface) I expect that the installation will be very quick and the adhesive will be rock solid and has the bonus of being non-destructive to the dodger. We’ll make another video when we do that.

[@thaitom449]

Great when you get things for nothing going for the more expensive systems

[@tracynabors]

After 10 months, how is this holding up? Great video. Thank you for sharing.

[@Mondaynever]

It’s been doing great! No issues at all!!

[@andylee4000]

Can you comment on if the flexible panel can be walked on?

[@Mondaynever]

Hey Andy, we don’t know the answer to that one. The website doesn’t mention anything about it, so we’d guess you can’t, but you’d have to check with Xantrex to be sure.

[@westoncrocker1]

Imagine how nifty solar panel sails could be. ☝️my idea i called it

[@jorgenieves9787]

Pretty cool but After a couple of months of heat and sunligh I Wouldn't trust by any chance that glued panel on a strong wind... it's gonna fly away like a seagull 😂

[@Mondaynever]

If anything the adhesive binds more aggressively in heat, so no issue there. But we’re now we’ll over 2 months in with no weakening of the bond. We’ll update if there are problems in the future.

[@kptbillburkett8735]

Flex solar panels are ok for about ayear or so. And after that they are worth nothing. Like I said there good if they are free.

[@gatecrasher1970]

so after telling everyone that you needed more solar you never told anyone if it was up to the task?

[@skag-8572]

Va be…

[@TOMVUTHEPIMP]

Another fake sailing channel.