Hi all, I have a100watt solar panel which is approx 27"x 40" in size.This is roughly 2ft x 3ft. It would be to maintain batteries while at the slip in Homer since there is no shore power. I was wondering where to install it so it would not be in the way and still be effective. I live in Alaska, so summer time cruising only. I had originally considered putting it atop of the dodger and moving the boom aside to prevent shading loss while a dock. Just wondering what others have done with their solar array. I don't like the idea of putting them on the lifeline and hanging them over the side and I am not really liking the idea of it on a pedestal stand on the stern (too large for that anyway). I considered adding a Bimini and installing it atop of that if it would clear the split back stay. Just not a lot of real-estate on a Vega. Thoughts and ideas would appreciated, Cheers....
Solar panel install
- Thread starter alaskaflyfish
- Start date
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Wow, too bad we missed each other. I moved to Soldotna about 2 years ago from Fairbanks. I like Homer but am also looking for a more gentle climate down south. San Diego sounds nice and has good sailing too. Congrats on selling #1625. Mine is 1707 and just out of a year long refit and set to go in its permanent slip when the cold weather wears off. If you know somebody in Homer who could give me some pointers on sailing the Vega that would be helpful because my only experience is sailing my Force 5 dinghy. I hope you buy another boat. Cheers mate.... From: "a62craig a62craig@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 7:26 PM Subject: RE: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Ere on the side of caution, if it looks like a good idea do it and pick your days to begin with. HowardSent from my iPad
Tim. Are you sure your panel will be affected by shading? On top of the dodger would probably be easiest. Put it on a meter and lay a 2x4 across it. When I bought Lyric, an early Series 1 she had no stern pulpit and the lifeline stanchions were only about
16" high with a single lifeline. More decoration than function! After being knocked over the side when crew accidently gybed the boat they were replaced with homemade and taller stainless ones. After I moved in with Judy who worked for West Marine and got
really good discounts we again replaced them with stanchions from Schaefer. Anybody thinking about stanchion replacement is advised to beef up the underdeck support as you will increase leverage and strain on the base.I guess that is not really here or there with solar panel mounting so now I'll talk about that. I made a pulpit with Taco fittings and 1" stainless tubing. The taco fittings use set screws to secure the fittings to the tubing. If you want a more permanent
mount drill a 3/16" hole through the fitting and the tube. Use a pop-rivet in the fitting instead of the screw. To get to the point I used fittings that left the tube open on top. I dropped short lengths of 7/8" tubing into the tubing. This allowed me to use
longer tubing that could pivot on the short tubing. The longer tubing is where we mounted are panels. The first setup used tubing bent in to a 90 degree arc. Two 55 watt panels were attached with pivoting mounts to two separate tubes. This set up allowed us
to point the panels more directly at the sun by being able to pivot up and down and fore and aft. It worked very well. Are longest period strictly on the panels was 19 days anchored at the entrance to Puerto Vallarta. We chatted on the VHF, listened to the
stereo, watched a VCR movie nightly, ran our refrigeration and our water-maker daily.
We called Lyric bestvega for a reason . At the time we felt we were probably the best equipped Vega in the world. That West Marine discount really helped. At the time it was 10% over cost. Sadly though we did weigh a lot more and sailing performance suffers
from weight. Per Brohall said it best about equipping a Vega, "Keep her light".Now the panels mount to a single tube with a Taco T fitting on top. One panel to each side of the fitting. I'm thinking that you could use a Taco base for 7/8" tubing and connect the tubing to the rail on the pulpit and it would give you a place to mount
it. Using a T fitting n the top of the tubing would allow you to put mounts on each side of the panel. Hope this is helpful. Walt, S/V Lyric #120
From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Tim Malone alaskaflyfish@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 11:05 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Wow, too bad we missed each other. I moved to Soldotna about 2 years ago from Fairbanks. I like Homer but am also looking for a more gentle climate down south. San Diego sounds nice and has good sailing too. Congrats on selling #1625. Mine is 1707 and just
out of a year long refit and set to go in its permanent slip when the cold weather wears off. If you know somebody in Homer who could give me some pointers on sailing the Vega that would be helpful because my only experience is sailing my Force 5 dinghy. I
hope you buy another boat. Cheers mate....
From: "a62craig a62craig@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 7:26 PM
Subject: RE: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only
decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?
I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
16" high with a single lifeline. More decoration than function! After being knocked over the side when crew accidently gybed the boat they were replaced with homemade and taller stainless ones. After I moved in with Judy who worked for West Marine and got
really good discounts we again replaced them with stanchions from Schaefer. Anybody thinking about stanchion replacement is advised to beef up the underdeck support as you will increase leverage and strain on the base.I guess that is not really here or there with solar panel mounting so now I'll talk about that. I made a pulpit with Taco fittings and 1" stainless tubing. The taco fittings use set screws to secure the fittings to the tubing. If you want a more permanent
mount drill a 3/16" hole through the fitting and the tube. Use a pop-rivet in the fitting instead of the screw. To get to the point I used fittings that left the tube open on top. I dropped short lengths of 7/8" tubing into the tubing. This allowed me to use
longer tubing that could pivot on the short tubing. The longer tubing is where we mounted are panels. The first setup used tubing bent in to a 90 degree arc. Two 55 watt panels were attached with pivoting mounts to two separate tubes. This set up allowed us
to point the panels more directly at the sun by being able to pivot up and down and fore and aft. It worked very well. Are longest period strictly on the panels was 19 days anchored at the entrance to Puerto Vallarta. We chatted on the VHF, listened to the
stereo, watched a VCR movie nightly, ran our refrigeration and our water-maker daily.
We called Lyric bestvega for a reason . At the time we felt we were probably the best equipped Vega in the world. That West Marine discount really helped. At the time it was 10% over cost. Sadly though we did weigh a lot more and sailing performance suffers
from weight. Per Brohall said it best about equipping a Vega, "Keep her light".Now the panels mount to a single tube with a Taco T fitting on top. One panel to each side of the fitting. I'm thinking that you could use a Taco base for 7/8" tubing and connect the tubing to the rail on the pulpit and it would give you a place to mount
it. Using a T fitting n the top of the tubing would allow you to put mounts on each side of the panel. Hope this is helpful. Walt, S/V Lyric #120
From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Tim Malone alaskaflyfish@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 11:05 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Wow, too bad we missed each other. I moved to Soldotna about 2 years ago from Fairbanks. I like Homer but am also looking for a more gentle climate down south. San Diego sounds nice and has good sailing too. Congrats on selling #1625. Mine is 1707 and just
out of a year long refit and set to go in its permanent slip when the cold weather wears off. If you know somebody in Homer who could give me some pointers on sailing the Vega that would be helpful because my only experience is sailing my Force 5 dinghy. I
hope you buy another boat. Cheers mate....
From: "a62craig a62craig@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 7:26 PM
Subject: RE: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only
decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?
I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
on Good Things, i removed pushpit, took to a welder and had a stainless arch put on. Good for lots of things. Solar panel is on that.Sent from my iPhone
Excellent advice on testing it with a 2x4 shaded area. Now, if I could only get some sunshine to test it. Alaska has low solar angles in the winter so the idea of a pivoting array would be helpful. However, in the summer, the sun is up most of the time with high solar angles making the install on the dodger acceptable. I may not always live in AK so adjustable arrays on the stern like you described may be best in the long run. The mast is currently down so getting a good measurement to clear the backstays would add guesswork into that equation. Also, since it is a smaller vessel I was trying to avoid the cluttered look and increased windage. Probably not a big concern but I really like clean lines. From: "walt judy brown allore bestvega@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com To: "AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2017 7:35 AM Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Tim. Are you sure your panel will be affected by shading? On top of the dodger would probably be easiest. Put it on a meter and lay a 2x4 across it. When I bought Lyric, an early Series 1 she had no stern pulpit and the lifeline stanchions were only about
16" high with a single lifeline. More decoration than function! After being knocked over the side when crew accidently gybed the boat they were replaced with homemade and taller stainless ones. After I moved in with Judy who worked for West Marine and got
really good discounts we again replaced them with stanchions from Schaefer. Anybody thinking about stanchion replacement is advised to beef up the underdeck support as you will increase leverage and strain on the base.I guess that is not really here or there with solar panel mounting so now I'll talk about that. I made a pulpit with Taco fittings and 1" stainless tubing. The taco fittings use set screws to secure the fittings to the tubing. If you want a more permanent
mount drill a 3/16" hole through the fitting and the tube. Use a pop-rivet in the fitting instead of the screw. To get to the point I used fittings that left the tube open on top. I dropped short lengths of 7/8" tubing into the tubing. This allowed me to use
longer tubing that could pivot on the short tubing. The longer tubing is where we mounted are panels. The first setup used tubing bent in to a 90 degree arc. Two 55 watt panels were attached with pivoting mounts to two separate tubes. This set up allowed us
to point the panels more directly at the sun by being able to pivot up and down and fore and aft. It worked very well. Are longest period strictly on the panels was 19 days anchored at the entrance to Puerto Vallarta. We chatted on the VHF, listened to the
stereo, watched a VCR movie nightly, ran our refrigeration and our water-maker daily.
We called Lyric bestvega for a reason . At the time we felt we were probably the best equipped Vega in the world. That West Marine discount really helped. At the time it was 10% over cost. Sadly though we did weigh a lot more and sailing performance suffers
from weight. Per Brohall said it best about equipping a Vega, "Keep her light".Now the panels mount to a single tube with a Taco T fitting on top. One panel to each side of the fitting. I'm thinking that you could use a Taco base for 7/8" tubing and connect the tubing to the rail on the pulpit and it would give you a place to mount
it. Using a T fitting n the top of the tubing would allow you to put mounts on each side of the panel. Hope this is helpful. Walt, S/V Lyric #120
From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Tim Malone alaskaflyfish@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 11:05 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Wow, too bad we missed each other. I moved to Soldotna about 2 years ago from Fairbanks. I like Homer but am also looking for a more gentle climate down south. San Diego sounds nice and has good sailing too. Congrats on selling #1625. Mine is 1707 and just
out of a year long refit and set to go in its permanent slip when the cold weather wears off. If you know somebody in Homer who could give me some pointers on sailing the Vega that would be helpful because my only experience is sailing my Force 5 dinghy. I
hope you buy another boat. Cheers mate....
From: "a62craig a62craig@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 7:26 PM
Subject: RE: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only
decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?
I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Tim. Are you sure your panel will be affected by shading? On top of the dodger would probably be easiest. Put it on a meter and lay a 2x4 across it. When I bought Lyric, an early Series 1 she had no stern pulpit and the lifeline stanchions were only about
16" high with a single lifeline. More decoration than function! After being knocked over the side when crew accidently gybed the boat they were replaced with homemade and taller stainless ones. After I moved in with Judy who worked for West Marine and got
really good discounts we again replaced them with stanchions from Schaefer. Anybody thinking about stanchion replacement is advised to beef up the underdeck support as you will increase leverage and strain on the base.I guess that is not really here or there with solar panel mounting so now I'll talk about that. I made a pulpit with Taco fittings and 1" stainless tubing. The taco fittings use set screws to secure the fittings to the tubing. If you want a more permanent
mount drill a 3/16" hole through the fitting and the tube. Use a pop-rivet in the fitting instead of the screw. To get to the point I used fittings that left the tube open on top. I dropped short lengths of 7/8" tubing into the tubing. This allowed me to use
longer tubing that could pivot on the short tubing. The longer tubing is where we mounted are panels. The first setup used tubing bent in to a 90 degree arc. Two 55 watt panels were attached with pivoting mounts to two separate tubes. This set up allowed us
to point the panels more directly at the sun by being able to pivot up and down and fore and aft. It worked very well. Are longest period strictly on the panels was 19 days anchored at the entrance to Puerto Vallarta. We chatted on the VHF, listened to the
stereo, watched a VCR movie nightly, ran our refrigeration and our water-maker daily.
We called Lyric bestvega for a reason . At the time we felt we were probably the best equipped Vega in the world. That West Marine discount really helped. At the time it was 10% over cost. Sadly though we did weigh a lot more and sailing performance suffers
from weight. Per Brohall said it best about equipping a Vega, "Keep her light".Now the panels mount to a single tube with a Taco T fitting on top. One panel to each side of the fitting. I'm thinking that you could use a Taco base for 7/8" tubing and connect the tubing to the rail on the pulpit and it would give you a place to mount
it. Using a T fitting n the top of the tubing would allow you to put mounts on each side of the panel. Hope this is helpful. Walt, S/V Lyric #120
From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Tim Malone alaskaflyfish@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 11:05 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Wow, too bad we missed each other. I moved to Soldotna about 2 years ago from Fairbanks. I like Homer but am also looking for a more gentle climate down south. San Diego sounds nice and has good sailing too. Congrats on selling #1625. Mine is 1707 and just
out of a year long refit and set to go in its permanent slip when the cold weather wears off. If you know somebody in Homer who could give me some pointers on sailing the Vega that would be helpful because my only experience is sailing my Force 5 dinghy. I
hope you buy another boat. Cheers mate....
From: "a62craig a62craig@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, January 7, 2017 7:26 PM
Subject: RE: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
Hello there Homer..... I lived all my life up there. Moved to San Diego a year ago, and bought a Vega. I bought 3 small panels, with nowhere to place them. Didn't want to place them under the boom, so the only
decent place was from some kind of framework off the rear like you suggested. Using the frame work from a Bimini might be the best option?
I had to answer because you're from Homer. Nice to hear about a Vega up there. I just sold mine yesterday....#1625. Good luck and have fun!!Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
Hey Scott, I like the idea of adding a couple of arches to the pushpit to increase the height of it a few feet and maybe using the large solar panel as a simi-Bimini roof. From: "ground hog groundhogyh@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, January 8, 2017 2:42 PM Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Solar panel install
on Good Things, i removed pushpit, took to a welder and had a stainless arch put on. Good for lots of things. Solar panel is on that.Sent from my iPhoneOn Jan 8, 2017, at 11:03 AM, Scott McMahon scott.mcmahon17@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:
on Good Things, i removed pushpit, took to a welder and had a stainless arch put on. Good for lots of things. Solar panel is on that.Sent from my iPhoneOn Jan 8, 2017, at 11:03 AM, Scott McMahon scott.mcmahon17@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:
Hey Scott McMahon, can you tell me about the clamps you used? Did you buy them, or make them yourself?
Right on, thanks Scott. I use a very similar setup on my Catalina 22 ... two 30-watt Renogy panels, mounted on the sides of the pushpit, articulating up and down about 100 degrees in total. It's a more primitive setup than yours, but nevertheless it works great. I hoped to duplicate it on the Vega, so those clamps of yours will be just the ticket. Thanks again!
Those look like the clamps we used on Lyric's system. As I said in my earlier post ours were mounted on a rotatable post which allowed better tracking of the sun. As an aside we noted that they also diminished the sailing at anchor by acting as small riding
sails. WaltFrom: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Scott McMahon scott.mcmahon17@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2017 7:26 AM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: Solar panel install
I bought two Sea-Dog Removeable Rail Mount Clamps, 2pks. I used two clamps for each panel and mounted them so the panels were about a third inboard and stuck out two-thirds (this allowed for panels
to be outboard and further in the sun, for the clamps to hold the panels in position, and for panels when vertical to be above the stern cleats). I screwed the 3/8" board to the clamps and then tied down the panels to the boards.--
Scott W McMahon
Math Teacher, Baldwin MS
Coach, Guilford HS Girls Soccer
sails. WaltFrom: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Scott McMahon scott.mcmahon17@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, January 9, 2017 7:26 AM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: Solar panel install
I bought two Sea-Dog Removeable Rail Mount Clamps, 2pks. I used two clamps for each panel and mounted them so the panels were about a third inboard and stuck out two-thirds (this allowed for panels
to be outboard and further in the sun, for the clamps to hold the panels in position, and for panels when vertical to be above the stern cleats). I screwed the 3/8" board to the clamps and then tied down the panels to the boards.--
Scott W McMahon
Math Teacher, Baldwin MS
Coach, Guilford HS Girls Soccer
Hi Jon, I gotta say that when I read marine plywood I was not expecting your arch to be very appealing, but in truth, it is surprisingly nice. I'm going to have to rethink all my designs after seeing your solar set-up. I've been busy pricing out stainless tubing and shipping costs.It adds up to a lot of $$$. Marine plywood makes economic sense. Most of the pivoting panels that I have seen are using smaller panels in a dual application. My panel is a single large panel so a pedestal would have to be quite large to support it. It would also have to be raised up high on the transom. At that point, an arch makes more sense. Thanks for the picture and the reply. They both have been very helpful. Cheers From: "Jon Phillips jonphillipsmsw@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 7:59 AM Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Re: Solar panel install
Can't help but chime in. We made a rack out of marine ply and epoxy. The thing is super solid and provides an amazing hand hold. It may have even saved my life once. No need for us to pivot the panel in the Caribbean so it just lays flat and gives us more power than we can use. It gives suprizing little shade though. I thought about fixing SS tubing on the top extending toward the mast as a Bimini but a full main would get in the way. I considered chopping the boom to the first reef point. I never fly a full main anyway especially with an oversized roller reefing genoa. This would allow a Bimini to extend nearly to the dodger. But then I would have to cut the sail and deface that beautiful golden anodized boom and original Vega sail plan
Put it in the "maybe someday" column. A pivoting option probably suites your needs better in AK though and I think you've got some great leads.
Happy New Year,
Tarka
arch.jpg
Can't help but chime in. We made a rack out of marine ply and epoxy. The thing is super solid and provides an amazing hand hold. It may have even saved my life once. No need for us to pivot the panel in the Caribbean so it just lays flat and gives us more power than we can use. It gives suprizing little shade though. I thought about fixing SS tubing on the top extending toward the mast as a Bimini but a full main would get in the way. I considered chopping the boom to the first reef point. I never fly a full main anyway especially with an oversized roller reefing genoa. This would allow a Bimini to extend nearly to the dodger. But then I would have to cut the sail and deface that beautiful golden anodized boom and original Vega sail plan
Put it in the "maybe someday" column. A pivoting option probably suites your needs better in AK though and I think you've got some great leads. Happy New Year,
Tarka
arch.jpg