O’Day 222 Solar Panel Mount

Sep 29, 2013
36
Oday O'Day 222, O'Day 19 Casco Bay, Falmouth, ME
Hi, I have the standard small aft rails on my O’Day 222, and want to hang a 50 to 80 watt solar panel somewhere in the aft cockpit area. I’m willing to add rails as necessary to accomplish this. Has anyone been happy with their solar panel installation an O’Day 222?
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Last edited:
Sep 29, 2015
110
Oday 222 Lake N ockamixon, pa
Just bought a solar panel and am watching for the comments. I'm thinking of attaching it to the port rear stanchion. Not sure exactly how; but there are lots of options.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
A lot of this depends on your power needs. An energy audit is a good thing to do, and then you know how much you need to replenish into your battery based on typical daily draw, and also what capacity deep cycle battery you even need in the first place. I replaced all the bulbs on my 192 with LEDs, and moved to a U1 tractor battery. (I thought that the U1 would be so much easier to bring home for charging. But THEN I went and got the solar panel because I can't leave well enough alone....) I occasionally would charge a device from the battery, say if a Bluetooth speaker starts running out, or iPhone needs a boost. With such minimal usage on primarily the weekends, I figured a Battery Tender 5 watt panel with built-in charge controller (which is probably a basic pulse width modulation charger probably only good for preventing overcharging of the sealed lead acid battery) was good enough. If I did use a lot of power over a weekend (unlikely) it would have plenty of time to charge during the week. The panel is just the right size to sit on the lazarette cover, and I just tie it in place with cords running under the seat. Original poster seems like quite a bit of solar capacity, but I suppose for someone spending a week out on the boat that would be necessary. Keep in mind that lead acid batteries, either sealed or Absorbed Glass Matt (AGM) like to be kept fully charged, and the quickest way to kill them is to leave them sit partially discharged. I personally would stay away from Gel unless I had shore power and a charger specifically designed for Gel.
 
Sep 29, 2013
36
Oday O'Day 222, O'Day 19 Casco Bay, Falmouth, ME
I have done an energy audit, and my usage with chart plotter with depth transducer, vhf radio, tiller pilot, LED lights as you suggested, charge my phone and iPad runs in the 25 to 30 amp-hours/day. Taking into account cloudy weather and perhaps only 5 hours of direct sunlight (shadows etc) I think I can do nicely on a 3 to 4 day trip with a 50 to 80 watt panel and my two lead acid 105 amp hour batteries. Mounting the panel is my current issue. I'll install a charge controller etc, but I need something that I can trailer with as well as sail. I can take the panel off for trailering, and that makes sense, but, like everything else, it adds to the setup and takedown time.
 
Sep 24, 2018
2,549
O'Day 25 Chicago
If it was me, I think I would do two smaller panels mounted to the outside of the rails. When needed you can flip them up, adjust them to the best angle and at the end of the day fold them down for towing
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