Thinking a little bit more on the solar panels, I have the idea of mounting them off-center and a different orientation so they could be tilted 0 to 45 degrees. This would obviously mean I need to build a more complicated and beefier roof mounting rack but it might get me a lot more solar power in the northern climate where the sun stays low all day.
If I mount them off-center on the roof, it establishes a bit of a path around the panels where one might be able to crawl to check/work on things. I do plan on carrying a ladder.
I could design an air dam into the frame, especially on the leading edge to protect some against wind loads when the panels are in the zero degree position while driving. I don't know if that would help the flex. Still could go with smaller panels...
