Solar Panel (ICP Pro5w) on cat 22

[Mike]

I am thinking of installing a solar panel trickel charger (ICP Pro5W) on my Catalina 22. The add says that it can't over charge my battery. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this product and how they like it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Mark Major]

Solar panel

I have the panel you mention, and have had trouble with the regulator. The first one got a bit of salt spray and failed, and was replaced by JC Whitney. The second I mounted in a safer area, with an additional heat sink, but it failed as well (both times it would not charge). The problem with the regulator is that it shouldn't be exposed to temperatures over 120 degrees F, or the weather, so here in Florida it just wouldn't work when the boat was closed up in the summer. Anyway, ICP replaced the standard regulator with a 7w unit, and so far I've had no trouble. A note about the panel, if it is the glass unit with a plastic frame: though very durable it is assembled with plated screws. Replace them with stainless. Other than that the unit is an excellent auxiliary power supply, and ICP is a very reliable company. I've had the unit just over two years.Mark Majors/v LesismorH23

 

[Jay Kent]

I have used one for years

on my C-22. I wired it to the battery and placed the collector between my curtains and the outside port on the portside near the aft of the cabin. This allowed a Southern exposure (from how it sits at my dock, and being inside, it is protected from all elements. I would guess that the unit is at least 8 years old and it still works fine. I have, since, added a second battery, so I periodically change it from one battery to the other. It keeps them up very well.

 

[Wanderer138]

If this is a 5W panel it may not be enough

Bear in mind that a stereo will burn 10W of power without trying and running lights draw 20W. Add 10W more for the steaming light and 10W for the anchor light. Tillerpilots draw LOTS of power when pressed hard (try 150W).A typical four-hour evening sail with the stereo on and an hour of running lights to get home after dark would draw about 60 watt-hr of electricity. A 5W panel operating at maximum efficiency would require 12 hours to restore the electricity that was used. It would take 20 hours to restore the power used by the anchor light each night (10 hr). In real world conditions, I wouldn't expect more than 70% efficiency from the panel, so divide those estimated times by 0.7 to get more realistic recharge times. If you figure 10 useful hours of daylight per day, you're looking at 3 days to restore the electricity from the four-hour sail...assuming 100% clear skies (no clouds or rain). The bottom line is you have to be frugal with a 5W panel.Undercharging is a real problem with low power panels. If you draw the battery down too far (past 50% of rated capacity) it takes too long to recharge and you run the risk of sulfating the cells. I learned this the hard way by destroying 2 deep-cycle batteries that I had run almost flat and then tried to recharge with a 10W solar panel. Not good.Now I watch my power use like a hawk, and if the battery drops below 50% (360 watt-hr of use from a 60 Ah battery) I recharge conventionally as soon as possible after I get back to the dock. If you sail at night or anchor out more than one night a month and you're above 35 deg N, I would seriously consider a panel with more grunt and a voltage regulator. Good luck.PeterH23 "Raven"