Unfortunately, the big panels for residential are sometimes WAY TOO BIG--at least for my boat
. Some of the voltages are inconvenient, too. They might work for those of you with bigger boats. I've been pretty throughly convinced that flexible panels are out for the foreseeable future, but rigid thin film does have some promise for sailboats. Since thin film outperforms crystalline when clouds or shadows are present by a long shot I would think that this would be an attractive option for those who lack unshaded mounting locations and/or sail in overcast areas (i.e., all of us). That said, they aren't going to be powerhouses, but the Team from Germany did win this year's Solar Decathlon (
U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon Home Page) partly because of the thin film panels they used as siding for their house and the overcast weather which is what got me thinking about this whole crazy idea to begin with.
In all my searching, I seem to have come across one thin film panel that *might* be viable. Since it's not listed on its manufacturer's own site, I figure it is either brand new or discontinued
. Global Solar Energy may have a rigid, thin film 60W panel 25"x46.5" weighing 20 lbs and a 30W 25"x24.4" weighing 11 lbs. MSRP would seem to be $399 and $199. Compare this to Kyocera and you have roughly the same Watts/$ (first thin film I've found that competes on this and isn't sized for a roof somewhere), but worse on weight and size. Of course, the part that makes me hopeful for future thin film offerings, is that it's backed by a 25 year power warranty, power output supposedly *increases* after exposed to a few days of sun, and they mention sailboats as a potential application. I think I'm going to try and put my solar panel purchase off for a year or two and see if something awesome doesn't come out in the meanwhile. This year's budget can play with wind/water power.