On our monohull boat we chose an approach to comfortable bluewater sailing without a generator. In the attached PDF we outline our design specifications and the experience of several years of sailing and living on the boat.

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Dietmar.Segner - 10 Jul 2024

Further to the previous comment I would add that if the pushpit isn‘t able to carry the loads of the solar panels on the rail the main concern is not the loss of panels but rather the loss of life as the rail and/or pushpit is not up to its task of preventing people being swept overboard. On an aluminum boat like ours the toerail is topped by a massive 10mm aluminum plate to which stanchion bases are welded. Absolutely stable. And stanchions or pushpits can be specified (wall thickness) so they are up to the task. Similarly, as described above, GRP boats can be constructed sensibly, but it is unlikely that every production boat is automatically up to the task.
dietmar 

I concur. Building a boat that is up to the job makes all the difference 

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Wild.Bird - 10 Jul 2024

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Dietmar.Segner - 10 Jul 2024

Further to the previous comment I would add that if the pushpit isn‘t able to carry the loads of the solar panels on the rail the main concern is not the loss of panels but rather the loss of life as the rail and/or pushpit is not up to its task of preventing people being swept overboard. On an aluminum boat like ours the toerail is topped by a massive 10mm aluminum plate to which stanchion bases are welded. Absolutely stable. And stanchions or pushpits can be specified (wall thickness) so they are up to the task. Similarly, as described above, GRP boats can be constructed sensibly, but it is unlikely that every production boat is automatically up to the task.
dietmar 

I concur. Building a boat that is up to the job makes all the difference 

Hi Dietmar,
I agree, freedom from injury, to persons first and to the boat second is of primary concern.
In general, I believe it is possible to build/design/engineer stanchions, when used as tie-downs for solar panels, jerry jugs, kayaks and the like, that would endure the impact force of water hitting them when the boat falls off a wave or is otherwise slammed. But how many boats go that far. I was writing for the vast majority of the boats I see in the ports passage makers hang out. Better, I think, for most boats to just resist using their stanchions in this manner. Cluttering the deck is just plain too much of a hazard potential in a myriad of ways, as my first comment in this stream observed.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy