At the request of some of the members, I'm providing my views on using a solar panel to run the electrical system on my Ariel. I've been using the system for about 18 months, and I'm happy to say that its works like a champ in Houston's latitude. My system is comprised of:
*one Kyocera KC-60 solar panel (60 watts) $250-$300
*one MorningStar SunSaver-6 solar panel controller battery charger--fully automated $50-$65
*10 GA wire and two panel brackets and rail mounts. http://www.e-marine-inc.com/
* two approx 100 Amp Hr Deep cycle marine batteries, lead acid type.
This system has been trouble free. I never think about power. I do check the fluid level in the batteries. The smart controller does a great job-- marinized in epoxy, senses temperature, optimizes the charging curve, can set to sealed gel or wet cell. I think maybe safer than shore power charger hooked up all the time???
I've never run out of power the way I cruise my boat, and have only used dock power when running my Cruseair airconditioner at the dock. Note in the attached spreadsheet that small loads from two fans run 24x7 adds up to some power, but with the solar panel charging, I don't worry about it at all. I don't use an inverter to run any AC appliances, I don't have refrigeration (ice works fine). To reduce loads, I would recommend replacing 15 watt incondescent cabin lights with the compact screw in florescent type-- more expensive, but way less draw.
Attached is a spreadsheet that I used to size my system, and to understand the impact of the various combinations of loads, battery size, and panel size. Its not perfect for every application, but it will give you a good idea of what you'd need to run your vessel. This will run on recent versions of excel. If needed, I can save it in an older file format. The intoduction worksheet will give you directions. Ignore the message that asks if you want to update links. The load sheet is filled in with one scenario I used for my boat-- you can change it as needed for your circumstances. Have fun!
I'll post them as images (800 pixels wide - is that OK? They were much larger, I rescaled them) from my site as I convert them, should have them all up in a few more minutes. Here are the first 2 pages. Thanks Kent!
Note: If you open them as a spreadsheet, you can put in your own figures etc and it would recalculate for you on the fly. If you don't have a spreadsheet application like M$ Office, you can get a free (no cost whatsoever) Office Suite at OpenOffice.org . The English language download of OpenOffice for windows is about 66 megabytes.
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