How Much Solar Can You Actually Fit on Your Boat?
So you've figured out how much solar you need. You've sorted your battery bank. You've even picked the type of solar panel that makes sense for your cruising style. Now comes the practical question:
Where are you going to put it all?
Boats aren’t rooftops. They’re curves, lines, rigging, rails, hatches, dodgers, biminis, and chaos. This post helps you figure out what solar real estate you actually have — and how to use it.
Step 1: Walk Your Boat
Start by identifying every surface that could potentially host a panel:
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Hard bimini
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Soft bimini
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Dodger top
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Deck (if walkable or out of the way)
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Radar arch or stern rail
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Cabintop or pilot house roof
Look for flattish, unshaded, and sun-exposed areas. Midday sun is your best friend. Any area that’s often shaded by sails, rigging, or antennas is going to underperform.
Step 2: Grab Some Cardboard (Seriously)
This is the classic boat solar hack:
Cut cardboard or foamboard templates to the dimensions of common panel sizes (e.g. 115W, 170W, 200W) and physically lay them out.
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Can you fit a 115W panel on the bimini?
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Could a long, thin custom panel wrap around the dodger edge?
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Are you actually going to trip over that panel you thought could go on the side deck?
You’ll quickly realize what fits in theory doesn’t always work in practice.
Step 3: Consider Mounting & Surface Type
Each surface comes with different mounting realities:
| Surface | Mounting Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hard bimini | Rigid or flexible | Great for rigid, flat mounting |
| Soft bimini | Flexible only | Requires lightweight, sew-on or zip-in panels |
| Deck | Flexible (if walkable) | Needs to be durable and low profile |
| Radar arch | Rigid | Usually strong and sun-exposed |
| Dodger | Flexible | Check for curvature and access needs |
Mounting costs matter. Rigid panels need framing. Flexible panels don’t — but only if they’re durable enough to handle foot traffic and exposure, which most aren't.
Step 4: Watch Out for Shading
A tiny shadow can wreck your panel output. One boom, antenna, or shroud casting a shadow across one corner of a panel can shut down the whole string.
More information on that here.
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Avoid placing panels where lines or sails pass regularly
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Consider bypass diodes (some panels have multiple, some just have one or none) or more MPPTs to mitigate shade loss (future post on this)
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When in doubt, prioritize unshaded smaller panels over one large, shaded one
Step 5: Think Custom If Space is Weird
Most boats aren’t rectangles. If you’ve got weird corners, curves, or gear in the way, this is where custom panels shine. You can fit more wattage into more odd spaces with custom shapes, cutouts, or multi-panel modular layouts.
We offer custom composite solar through our service partners — it’s not DIY, but it’s hands-down the best way to maximize solar surface area without compromising your deck plan or aesthetics.
Final Thoughts
You might want 800W of solar, but if you’ve only got room for 300W, that’s your hard limit — unless you rethink your layout, go custom, or build support structures.
Start with what you can fit. Lay it out. Get real. From there, you'll know what parts to buy and how to wire it all together — which just so happens to be our next post: how to design your full system layout.