I'm going to take the plunge into solar power shortly and need some advice. Aside from the panel, what other peripheral gear do I need to allow it to charge the batteries. Bear in mind my understanding of things electrical is fundamental at best. I currently have two batteries in the port cockpit locker that I've been charging with a portable charger. My energy needs are minimal - all I have right now is a VHF, bilge pump, running lights, and interior lights. I may add a couple other things (more lights, GPS, depth sounder, etc., but nothing major like refridgeration). I was thinking of getting a Siemens 10w kit from BoatUS that has mounts, a regulator and other stuff for about $150. They don't seem to be selling it now and it probably wasn't enough anyway. I just saw a Unisolar 32w panel at Sailnet for $199. I think that would provide plenty of charging power for what I have and expect to add, but if I go that route, what other things do I need to get to tie it all together.
(Steve, next time I see you at Whitehall I'd like to take a look at your setup)
Steve, you're getting at my question - what other stuff do I need besides the panel and what does it typically cost? I know I'll need mounts and cables. Do I need a regulator? What does it do, exactly? Prevents overcharging? Anything else?
Like I said, I can get a decent panel at a reasonable price at Sailnet right now. I'm just trying to understand what goes into the whole system and how it would add up. Thanks,
Wednesday night my friend and I were going out for a night sail. My friend is an excellent sailor and owns his own boat. I gave him the tiller as we motored out of the canal. Meanwhile, I got busy taking off the sail cover and getting ready to hoist the sails.
Somehow, my friend got distracted coiling a line or something. When I turned to look, we're heading straight for a piling about 15 feet away. Yikes! I slammed the tiller hard over.
Ever so slowly, the boat starts turning away as we approach the pole. (Now I know how the Captain of the Titanic felt). We give the pole a glancing blow and rubbed past it. Ugh.
I could barely stand to look at the hull. Now I have a smear of tar and cresote about 6-12 inches wide running along the hull for 6 or 8 feet. I had just painted the hull this Spring. Double Ugh.
We scrubbed the hull for a while, got most of it off, and went for a sail. My friend is really more upset than I am. I shrugged it off as best I could and told him to forget about it.
Yesterday he went down to the boat and finished cleaning the hull. He also left me a new flexible solar panel. I guess I had mentioned wanting one of those. What a guy!
The flexible panel is about two feet long. I think it will work as a "trickle" charger and I don't need a regulator. I'll have to read the instructions.
In the past, I used to take the battery off and charge it up at home whether it needed it or not. My outboard also charges the battery.
As for the hull, it looks good from a distance. I haven't mustered up the courage to give it a close inspection and see the scratches in my paint job. I'll deal with that next Spring I suppose.
Oh well. All's well that end well. It took a brush with disaster to bring me in to the modern world of solar energy.
I wonder what its gonna take before I install that depthsounder I bought?
Nope it's not winta yet - still black flies around - and the 3 seasons are - July, August & Winta.
I wrote a couple of pages about my season's sailing and went to post it and was prompted to log in ...:PO: Somehow I got bumped.
How about a run down on your solar panel and electrical system? What you have, what you like, what it does, where you got it, etc.. Being I don't have an inboard and, currently anyway, don't have an outboard with an alternator/charging system I'm looking at different ways of keeping 113 'electrically unhampered'.
Here's what I'm looking for-an electric start outboard with an alternator and has virtually no drag when we're sailing. Oh heck yeah, no prop walk either! And weighs 70 to 80lbs. while we're at it. And a big stack of $100 bills.
I've been looking at solar stuff too, being in a similar situation with an outboard that has no charging ability. I think that solar will be the main source of juice on #370 when she gets to that point. It will be nice to see what Kent has to say.
You might want to take 6 or 7 of your $100 bills and look at these 2 little 1kW generators - both 4-stroke, under 60dB sound, under 30# weight, load-sensing throttle (saves gas, lengthens run time), have AC and DC output, yadda yadda yadda. I'm thinking that they would make a good backup source for charging, as well as perhaps being able to run a small power tool (jigsaw, palm sander, drill, icemaker, blender). Well, OK, maybe the last two "tools" aren't, really, but one could dream... The Yamaha seems to always be a little cheaper at the sites I've seen.
Also, one last thing - I stole your boat. Well, a picture of your boats interior, after you'd ripped almost all of it out. I'm using it to "draw" mockups of the interior layout for #370, sometime in the distant foggy future. Hope you don't mind.
Frank, you are oh so right about what it's like to peel away the last shreds of blue tape, stand back, and admire what one of these pieces of art looks like all shined up, looking brand new.
I'll post a new solar thread in the technical forum-- or maybe at the end of an old thread. I'll tell you how I figured out what to do with Charisma. I've got an excel spread sheet that helps figure out the right sizing of battery bank and solar panel based on where you live and what your loads are on the boat.
I just read were some scientists from Canada have just made an important breakthrough in solar electric generation. A more powerful solar panel, 30% more elecrical power and get this. It is so thin strong and flexible that it can be applied to canvas. Could generate enough electrical power to operate an electric motor for propulsion, even works in dim light. According to what I have read product should be available in next two or three years. Also it seems that this product is a single film that may even be spayed on. Imagine your sails as large solar electrical generators providing electrical power in addition to wind power.
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The Yamaha seems to always be a little cheaper at the sites I've seen.
