Solar Panel Install on a Hunter 26 w/pics and part #

rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,542
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Hi All

I wanted to share my experiences installing a solar panel on the mast crutch pole of my H26. I found a really nice company called Arizona Wind and Sun and I called them and talked to a guy named Robert Snipe and he very carefully talked me through the project and made sure I had the right parts.... and he didn't even try to sell me stuff I didn't need :wink3:. Anyway, I now have a small solar panel mounted to my mast crutch that puts out 0.57 Amps so I should hope to get about 6 Amp-Hrs a day. Total cost was $146 with shipping. I already had the plug through the hull so add another $5 for a trolling motor plug if you need that.

The mounting bracket connects to the pole using two worm screw clamps (large hose clamps like the ones you use to attache exhaust hose to the dryer). I drilled two holes through the mast crutch pole and ran the electric through the pole. The rubber grommets I got at Lowes and they are to keep the sharp edges of the holes in the pole from chaffing the electric lines for the panel. It took me less than an hour to install. Here are the pics and part numbers.
IMG_2137.JPG
IMG_2132.JPG

Invoice.jpg
 

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rgranger

rgranger

.
Jan 19, 2010
12,542
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Yeah, I won't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of charging systems. I talked to a technician at Arizona Wind and Sun and he asked me how many batteries were in my bank and then made this recommendation.

My electric needs are very modest. I will have a VHF that will be turned on while underway, and two low draw fans that I run while sleeping... the rest will be my kids charging up their phones and maybe me charging up my hand held VHF. My anchor light is a coleman LED lantern that runs off of batteries and I don't do a lot of night sailing and I also have a 6 amp alternator on the O.B. so between the O.B. and the panel, I think I will have more than ample charging capacity to stay out for a few weeks at a time.
 
seadaddler

seadaddler

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Dec 19, 2006
5,813
Hunter 36 Punta Gorda
Nice job for sure but I think you should and will need a bigger panel and I did not see how many batteries you have.
Maybe 2 fold up panels something like the solar stick.
You will be surprised how fast batteries get sacked up and maybe keep a battery for starting as spare.
Nick
 
walt

walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,519
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
I just had my sailboat in a slip for four months charged with a 10 watt panel and outboard. This is right smack in the middle of winter with short days and a low sun angle - both which limit the power you get. Twice in that time I had to supplement charging with a 40 watt panel for couple days. My big load was a car stereo which you dont have but you have fans at night which I didn't have. Im probably going to a 20 watt panel for next winter but it will be somewhat of an over kill. I think chances are that you will be just fine with what you picked. Im not sure why you went with the smaller panel but I personally like the smallest panel I can get away with.

You would get slightly more (like maybe 10 to 20%) out of the panel with MPPT but there is one benefit with PWM that you might find useful. With MPPT and adding extra panels in parallel, the additional panels need to have fairly close matched maximum power point voltage. If the panels are not matched well, one panel can get biased so that it actually has zero output. PWM does not have this issue at all so you could do something like I did where I have a 10 watt panel permanently mounted but I can add a 40 watt panel (or any other size as long as I dont go past the rating of the controller) and both panels put out their max current. PWM is much less sensitive to max power operating point of the panels when you have more than one in parallel as well as less sensitive to temperature and power loss in the wires..
 
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rgranger

rgranger

.
Jan 19, 2010
12,542
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Thanks Walt... I'll keep that in mind. At the slip, I have the boat plugged into shore power... so this will only be very critical when I'm out cruising.... which is summer time. However if I do find I need more... or someone talks me into installing a stereo, I'll follow your lead. Sounds like you have a very flexible system.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Did I miss it? Where did you get the pole and how much was it? Sorry if you already mentioned it.
 
RussC

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,591
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
I'm also in the process of setting up solar and ran across this blog http://www.captaincurran.com/2014/10/diy-how-to-install-solar-panels-on-boat.html that I copied. I've already ordered the 30W panel and controller he listed, so I hope it works out. the panel and controller came to about $120.oo . I have similar charging needs as you, rgranger, so I'm optimistic it will do the job. I like the pole idea, but not sure if I'll do that or mount it behind the rear rail as many do. might be better aiming potential with the pole however.

Thanks for sharing

Russ
 
Sumner

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
Nice install and I used that controller with success when I just had a 40 watt panel on the boat. Now I use two MPPT controllers and a friend uses my old controller on his race car trailer to keep the winch battery charged.



Looking at the picture of your boat it looks like in the picture that their is shading going across the panel from the mast support. If that is true and happens for much of the day it will probably kill most of the charging from the panel. This might not be a problem if the panel is just maintaining the battery in the slip and maybe not underway either. The 10 watt panel isn't much so even with your small loads the battery might go down some on a couple day cruise but maybe not enough to be a problem.

I know Walt is performance oriented so weight is always a consideration for him but if that isn't the case you could mount a larger panel for the same initial price (Solar Blvd for instance has a 40 watt for $58) so that might be an option if you find you need more output from a panel. That controller will handle up to a 60 watt panel and probably even an 80 watt as it is unlikely that we get 100% out of a panel on a boat at any time.

At the end of the sailing season give us an update,

Sumner
======================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,542
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Brian and Russ....

The Hunter 26 is a trailer sailboat and that pole is the mast crutch for trailering. The bow pulpit also has a built in mast crutch. The P.O. left his boat in the water but he also left the crutch pole in place. Said it made a nice pole to grab onto. So... I looked at that and said... makes a nice place to put a solar panel. The bottom of the hull on the H26 extends about 3 inches past the transom making a small ledge. The pole sits on a pin on top of that ledge and is then secured to the back of the transom with a U-shaped bracket.
 
rgranger

rgranger

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Jan 19, 2010
12,542
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I saw the yellow arrow and knew right away who posted ... :waycool:Thanks Sumner....

You are probably correct to assume I will get less than 6 amp-hrs out of a day depending on my orientation to the sun. I have a battery monitor so I'm guessing if things start to run low, I will pay attention to the angle of the panel. It is not hard to twist the mount to different angles. After the install I got the feeling that it would not be too hard to put two of these mounts on the same pole and stagger them 120 degrees apart facing aft. Add a bigger panel and I just might start thinking about that stereo... :)

I'll let you guys know if I was able to keep up or not. As the cost of panels keeps dropping... I'm guessing we will all start covering our boats with more and more of these things. :dancing:
 
Brian D

Brian D

.
Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
rgranger said:
Brian and Russ....

The Hunter 26 is a trailer sailboat and that pole is the mast crutch for trailering. The bow pulpit also has a built in mast crutch. The P.O. left his boat in the water but he also left the crutch pole in place. Said it made a nice pole to grab onto. So... I looked at that and said... makes a nice place to put a solar panel. The bottom of the hull on the H26 extends about 3 inches past the transom making a small ledge. The pole sits on a pin on top of that ledge and is then secured to the back of the transom with a U-shaped bracket.
Click to expand
Thanks for that info. I have found some SS poles on ebay. I want to redo my solar panel but with a movable (azimuth and elevation) head from a home satellite dish.
 
Sumner

Sumner

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Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
rgranger said:
...You are probably correct to assume I will get less than 6 amp-hrs out of a day depending on my orientation to the sun. ...
Click to expand
Since a 10 watt panel puts out .6 of an amp under perfect conditions I'm guessing (from some experience with 200 watts to 560 watts on the Mac) that on a day to day basis 3 amp/hr per day will probably be good. Our panels are hardly ever (mine never are) 90 deg. to the sun for any length of time and then you can have clouds, and shading that will also cut into the output.

rgranger said:
...As the cost of panels keeps dropping... I'm guessing we will all start covering our boats with more and more of these things....
Click to expand

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/mac-1/mac-outside/Trolling-Motor/page-1.html

Yep....:):),

Sumner
=============================================================
1300 miles to The Bahamas and Back in the Mac...
Endeavour 37 Mods...
MacGregor 26-S Mods...http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-main/endeavour-index.html
Mac Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida, Bahamas
 
Bob 04 H260

Bob 04 H260

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May 16, 2007
1,509
Boatless ! 26 Ottawa, Ontario
Nice project, well documented, hope it keeps you at 100%
When I had an H260 I just laid a small panel on the companionway hatch and ran the wire into the cigarette lighter socket. I kept a tether on it in case of bad weather.
Bob
 
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