Sol-Go Walkable & Impact-Resistant Solar Panels (IRW Series)

The Next Generation: Walkable, Impact-Resistant Solar

Sol-Go IRW panels are the next-generation upgrade to the flexible Sol-Go line — engineered to be walked on, shrug off impact, and keep producing where ordinary flexible panels give up. They pair the same high-efficiency SunPower® Maxeon® IBC monocrystalline cells with a tougher, copper-backed architecture and a black backsheet, so you get sleek, grid-line-free looks and real-world durability for the deck, the cabin top, or the trail.

Eleven sizes from 55 W to 280 W means you can usually find something that fits the space you actually have — a narrow strip of coachroof, the flat between two hatches, a van roof already crowded with a fan and a rack.

Planning your system? Our Solar & MPPT sizing calculator helps you match this panel's wattage and configuration to the right charge controller.

Why Sol-Go IRW?

• Walkable design — durable enough to walk on during installation and maintenance when the panel is bonded to a solid, supporting surface. No babying your array.
• Impact resistant — a robust copper base resists micro-cracks and corrosion, standing up to road debris, hail, and branches.
• Flexible architecture — conforms to the curved surfaces of boats, RVs, vans, and trucks without losing efficiency.
• Genuinely light — 2.4 lb for the 55 W, 11.9 lb for the 280 W. A framed glass module of similar output is several times heavier, which matters a great deal when the weight is going up high on a bimini, a hardtop, or a van roof.
• Strong low-light and partial-shade behaviour — IBC cells hold up better than conventional mono c-Si on grey mornings and under rigging shadows, so you gather more of the day.
• UV-protected & marine-tough — resists photo-oxidation and yellowing, and shrugs off saltwater.

Mounting & Installation

This is the part worth reading before you order, because an IRW panel goes on quite differently from a framed module.

IRW panels have a clean, uninterrupted perimeter and are designed to be bonded directly to the mounting surface. Installers who have done it tend to like this a lot — there are no fasteners to seal, nothing to chafe a sail, no penetrations in your deck or roof, and the finished panel sits almost flush. It's about as tidy as a solar install gets. The trade-off is that the bond is the mount, so surface prep and adhesive choice do the work that screws would otherwise do.

Sol-Go's recommendation, and what many of their customers use, is a two-tape system:

• 3M™ VHB™ Tape 5908 — black acrylic foam tape, 0.010 in (0.25 mm), run as a 1 in perimeter band around the edge of the panel. This is the structural bond.
• 3M™ Adhesive Transfer Tape 9775WL+ — clear, 5 mil, used as filler across the field inside that perimeter so the panel is supported across its whole area rather than only at the edges. Full-area support is what makes walking on the panel sensible.

Both are 3M industrial products, so you'll normally source them through an industrial distributor rather than a hardware store. As always with adhesives, the substrate matters — clean, dry, and compatible surfaces make or break the bond, and 3M's own data sheets are the best guide for surface prep and cure time on your particular material. If you'd like a second opinion on your surface or your layout before you commit, schedule an online consultation and one of our ABYC-certified advisors will talk it through with you.

Each panel ships with MC4 connectors and needs an MPPT charge controller to do its best work — an MPPT will typically harvest meaningfully more than a PWM controller from the same panel, particularly in the cooler, brighter conditions where these cells shine.

Specifications

All figures at STC. Cells are the same layout and size as the equivalent Sol-Go flexible (SX) panel — the IRW's black backsheet costs a small amount of current, which is why an IRW panel is rated a little below its flexible counterpart.

A note on the label on your panel

Worth knowing so nothing looks wrong when you open the box. Sol-Go finalised the IRW naming convention after the first production run, so panels from that early batch carry the pre-final label. The panel is the one you ordered — only the sticker differs, and Sol-Go has confirmed all future production will use the model numbers shown above.

The 55 W, 105 W, 115 W and 205 W panels are labelled the same either way.

Warranty

Sol-Go's limited warranty guarantees the panel will produce at least 80% of its minimum peak power for 5 years, plus a 2-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Blue Marine is an authorized Sol-Go dealer — every panel ships brand-new, with free shipping and local pickup available at our Seattle warehouse. If you ever need to open a claim, email support@bluemarine.com or call (800) 628-6306 and we'll handle it with Sol-Go for you.

Resources

Datasheets and drawings for this line are in Manuals & Datasheets below as they become available from Sol-Go. Not sure which size or how many panels your system wants? The Solar & MPPT sizing calculator is a good first stop, and you're always welcome to schedule an online consultation with one of our ABYC-certified advisors.