<  I would probably stretch Stamoid under the panels with
room for air between the Stamoid and the panels. >

Stamoid is a PVC fabric made in Switzerland by Ferrari, the car company, and is horrendously expensive with half the tensile strength compared to any of the generic truck tarp fabrics.  The top layer of PVC is very thin and it has a much shorter life in high UV than the 16-18 oz. truck tarp fabrics, which are a quarter the price.  Having used truck tarp for many high end yacht enclosures for over twenty years I can attest to it being a much better value.

We have recently been installing the Solbian flexible solar panels onto truck tarp fabric tops with Velcro strips around the perimeter of the panels.  These panels do not require any more framing than does the top.  All we do to create an air space is put a 3/4" round fiberglass rod down the center of the panel, bowing it up slightly in the middle.  For the Velcro there is a flap with loop, strip of hook adhered to the panel on top, strip of loop on underside and strip of hook sewn to the top; Velcro top and bottom and the flap stays flat when the panel is removed protecting the Velcro from UV.  The base of these panels is 1/16" polycarbonate to which the self adhesive Velcro sticks very well.

Robert Phillips
Another Asylum, 60' Custom Trawler
Tortola, BVI

My experience:

Long before we built LeeZe, I had noticed that trucks were using fabric covers to shield their cargo.

And, knowing that their money is tight, I figured these covers had to last a while.

But there are no real truck stops here so taking to truckers was hard.

However, an opportunity presented itself when “stuck” at a customs border.

There I learned a lot about these covers.

Long haul truckers that usually only open and close their tarps at pick up points and destinations favor a two part tarp that is very difficult to roll but handles road and weather well.  If folded, the creases “break” the outer fabric rendering useless.  With a little patience, it rolls OK. It is hard to find locally but if one goes to a town where they make trailers for trucks, there is always a shop or two that has it.

It appears to weigh about 23 ounces per square foot, is stiff, and when installing grommets, the shops make the hole, put in a two part plastic piece in the hole, puts the grommet in the plastic part, and then use a heat gun to finish the installation.

The price for this fabric was 30% of the cost of Sunbrella and less than 20% of Stamoid

Finding a color the Admiral liked was hard.

We use this to cover table tops, our Winter tender cover, and side curtains to cut the sun in summer.

Other truckers use a fabric that is also two part, but much easier to roll up and down. This appears to weigh about 17 ounce per square foot, and is probably 40% cheaper than the 23 ounce stuff.

This fabric from what I learned is expected to last about 5-6 years before it has become so weak from the road and the weather that the grommets start pulling out.

We use this fabric for stuff we roll up and down, making sure the outside layer faces the sun.

It is next too impossible for the local fabricators to get either of these cloths but with some effort, we located a seller in a big city nearby (300 km) that we can get “bolts” from and have the local guy make what we need.

We have also come to learn that the car interior guys have a fabric for seat covers that is perfect for outdoor seating. It seems to be like Sunbrella, but dirt and slime and salt just rinse off easily. It does tend too stick to wet butts and if left in the sun, it gets hot, but for our aft deck, this stuff works.

For indoor cushions, we went to a curtain shop and looked at their “fake leather” fabrics and got one that we like.

The point: Looking outside the marine world for solutions may be rewarding. My guess is that if one went to a RV show, one could find fabrics that might fit your needs.

I have NO idea if there are long haul trucking shows stateside, but I do know a friend who stopped at a Peterbuilt (sp?) truck dealership and eventually installed truck tarp as awnings and shade for his new home.

Lee

Çanakkale, Turkey