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hi everyone  jeff cote here with pys we've got a  question from a fellow voter  asking hi jeff can you explain the  difference  between flexible and rigid solar panels  for my boat  which one lasts longer and produces the  highest efficiency  years later good question rob  now the difference between a flexible  and rigid panels has sort of been  [Music]  reduced over time right when you  consider  the efficiency and that's a part of the  question you can actually buy a mono  panel  flexible or a mono panel that is rigid  that are going to be the same size and  the same efficiency so it is absolutely  possible to buy a mono panel  that is both rigid or flexible that are  identical size identical efficiencies  now that has been changing over time and  flexible has been catching up with high  efficiency panels that we have on some  of the rigid panels  so really there's no difference on that  front the other thing too is about  durability  um flexible solar panels if they're  properly affixed and they're not  flapping in the wind and i've seen that  where they get damaged because they're  not  properly affixed to a surface either  canvas  or they were just left there and then  they end up cracking because remember a  flexible panel is  inherently a little bit more fragile  than a rigid panel  you need to make sure that your rigid  panel not your rigid but your flexible  panel  is properly mounted so it's going to  give you a long last  a long life on my boat i have  six solar panels they were installed  about eight years ago  and they're still doing the same output  that i had when i installed them  now i took the necessary precautions to  make sure that my flexible solar panels  were babied and really and installed  properly on the boat  so there's not a lot of difference  between rigid and flexible in terms of  durability as long as the flexible pet  solar panels are properly installed  if you're going to be taking the panels  on and off your boat and you don't mind  having a bulky panel on your boat like  ridgid certainly the rigid is tougher  because there's an aluminum frame around  the panel  and you could maybe ding the corners you  could scratch a little bit the frame  you can take it on and off but the flip  side is now you've got a panel that  might be  way heavier than a flexible panel so  here's an  instance of a flexible solar panel you  can see i mean it's it's the thickness  of a quarter  right it's very very narrow  and or thin so it's obviously it has  been but you don't want this to be  bending in the wind  so it is tough but not as tough as a  flexible as a rigid solar panel  so that's the differences between a  rigid and a flexible  the big issue or concern why we end up  choosing a lot more flexible than ridgid  is because there's a lot more mounting  options that are available  like mounting in a hard top mounting on  a canvas and because it's so lightweight  it's easier to install so that might be  one of the factors that you need to  consider when you're doing flexible  solar panels or rigid solar panels on  your boat  thanks for the question and thanks  everyone for watching