Solar panel mount through the bimini design using
- 3D-printed parts
- 30x30mm aluminum extrusions (https://www.mcmaster.com/5537T44/)
- rail caps (https://www.mcmaster.com/5537T477/)
- custom aluminum T-nuts
- aluminum T-extrusion (OnlineMetals.com p/n #12747, 2" x 2" x 0.25" Aluminum T-Bar 6063-T52-Extruded)
- M6 stainless screws, nylock nuts and washers
Parts were printed with Kimya TPC-91A on a modded Ender3 V2. I wanted them to be semi-flexible to accommodate stress and vibrations. Note that printed parts do not bear any critical loads.
Aluminum T-nuts milled and fitted with stainless screws. Screws were installed with Loctite 7649 activator and permanent Loctite Threadlocker Red 271. I wanted the nut itself to be aluminum to avoid corrosion where it contacts extrusion but at the same time have the strength of stainless steel screw for linkage. An off-the-shelf stainless T-nut smeared with a generous amount of tefgel may work too.
Solar panel was RICH SOLAR 200 Watt 12 Volt 9BB Cell Monocrystalline but I believe many other panels may work.
This solar setup survived trip from Houston to Bahamas and back where we briefly saw 45kn winds.