I have a 2 battery system with Guest charger. I am interested in longer term anchorages and would like some solar panels to take care of the cooler, fans, other goodies, when away from the dock. Has anyone done this on the 26? Where did you put the panel? What wattage? Is it working out? Please reply only if you have accomplished this - thanks. Terry
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Michael Bell
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Alan Long
Me too
Hi Terry I'm thinking about a similar project for my 23.5. Looks to me like an ideal place to mount a rigid (more efficient than a flexible one) solar panel would be on the mast crutch. With the crutch installed you have a nice tall, rigid pole to install the panel on. You could route the wires inside the pole, through the transom to the batteries. Have you checked out jademountain.com for solar panels? They have a wide selection. I'm thinking about something in the 20 watt range. Good luck
Hi Terry I'm thinking about a similar project for my 23.5. Looks to me like an ideal place to mount a rigid (more efficient than a flexible one) solar panel would be on the mast crutch. With the crutch installed you have a nice tall, rigid pole to install the panel on. You could route the wires inside the pole, through the transom to the batteries. Have you checked out jademountain.com for solar panels? They have a wide selection. I'm thinking about something in the 20 watt range. Good luck
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Harvey Small
Solar Vent
I just installed a 4-inch Nicro solar powered vent just forward of the mast. Can I reply? P-l-e-a-s-e... I'll be your best friend...
I just installed a 4-inch Nicro solar powered vent just forward of the mast. Can I reply? P-l-e-a-s-e... I'll be your best friend...
Let the sunshine in
I have a 10W Uni-Solar panel on my H23. It's flexible and it has worked great over the past year. I was told that although rigid panels are more efficient, they are much more sensitive to angle of the sun and lose a lot of efficiency if they aren't oriented just right or if the panel is partially shaded. They are also more fragile and prone to corrosion. On the other hand, flexible panels are light, they tolerate abuse (I've stepped on mine several times by mistake) and they keep on making juice as long as the sunlight can hit 'em. Considering how a sailboat moves around and how easy it is for things to get broken, I feel the flexible panel is the way to go. BTW, I have a tiller pilot, VHF, depthsounder and stereo on board. I sail a lot at night and I have never had a flat battery since I got the panel. Peter S/V Raven
I have a 10W Uni-Solar panel on my H23. It's flexible and it has worked great over the past year. I was told that although rigid panels are more efficient, they are much more sensitive to angle of the sun and lose a lot of efficiency if they aren't oriented just right or if the panel is partially shaded. They are also more fragile and prone to corrosion. On the other hand, flexible panels are light, they tolerate abuse (I've stepped on mine several times by mistake) and they keep on making juice as long as the sunlight can hit 'em. Considering how a sailboat moves around and how easy it is for things to get broken, I feel the flexible panel is the way to go. BTW, I have a tiller pilot, VHF, depthsounder and stereo on board. I sail a lot at night and I have never had a flat battery since I got the panel. Peter S/V Raven
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Terry
Mast crutch
Alan The mast crutch is an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of that. I could even rotate the pole in the direction of the sun. I had thought that I would need to go on the top hatch cover or perhaps port of the mast on the deck. Of course, I would like to minimize the ugliness of any installation. If I went in the support for the mast crutch I'd probably buy another pole that would get the panel just above the back rail. I have a food cooler that takes 4.5 amps so we are talking at least 60 watts to cover that thing. It would also be nice on a hot windless day to run a couple of fans - there's another 10-20 watts. (couple of years ago it was over 100 degrees for weeks!) I called "Guest" since they make the charger I use, but they said to call someone else, its not their area. In the end I'll probably need to spend $400 or better to do this. I'll check with the solar panel folks on the panel areas and electrical hookup to the charger etc.. Terry
Alan The mast crutch is an interesting idea, I hadn't thought of that. I could even rotate the pole in the direction of the sun. I had thought that I would need to go on the top hatch cover or perhaps port of the mast on the deck. Of course, I would like to minimize the ugliness of any installation. If I went in the support for the mast crutch I'd probably buy another pole that would get the panel just above the back rail. I have a food cooler that takes 4.5 amps so we are talking at least 60 watts to cover that thing. It would also be nice on a hot windless day to run a couple of fans - there's another 10-20 watts. (couple of years ago it was over 100 degrees for weeks!) I called "Guest" since they make the charger I use, but they said to call someone else, its not their area. In the end I'll probably need to spend $400 or better to do this. I'll check with the solar panel folks on the panel areas and electrical hookup to the charger etc.. Terry
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Bryan C.
Mega amps
The wattage you need depends on the amp hours you need. If "long term anchorage" means you'll be on the hook for days or weeks at a time, you will need to replenish your power daily from on-board sources. If you want something to produce enough charge to maintain your power needs, you first need to calculate your daily amp hour requirement. You say you want to take care of the "cooler, fans, other goodies." Depending on the the circumstances, that could easily mean a 50-100 amp-hour daily use. A solar panel will put out in bright direct sunshire, about one amp per 15 watts (15 watts / 15 volts = 1 amp). You might get 4-5 hours direct sunshine daily in the tropics; in Lake Erie maybe 3-4. That means for every 15 watts of solar panel, you can get about 4 amp hours per day. To get 50 amp hours a day to keep your batteries up with daily use, you're looking at at least 200 watts of panel. That's a lot of panels to put on a 26. And that's not counting extra for cloudy days. Your options are to use less power, or complement solar panels with alternate energy production -- generally that means a wind generator or high output alternators.
The wattage you need depends on the amp hours you need. If "long term anchorage" means you'll be on the hook for days or weeks at a time, you will need to replenish your power daily from on-board sources. If you want something to produce enough charge to maintain your power needs, you first need to calculate your daily amp hour requirement. You say you want to take care of the "cooler, fans, other goodies." Depending on the the circumstances, that could easily mean a 50-100 amp-hour daily use. A solar panel will put out in bright direct sunshire, about one amp per 15 watts (15 watts / 15 volts = 1 amp). You might get 4-5 hours direct sunshine daily in the tropics; in Lake Erie maybe 3-4. That means for every 15 watts of solar panel, you can get about 4 amp hours per day. To get 50 amp hours a day to keep your batteries up with daily use, you're looking at at least 200 watts of panel. That's a lot of panels to put on a 26. And that's not counting extra for cloudy days. Your options are to use less power, or complement solar panels with alternate energy production -- generally that means a wind generator or high output alternators.
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Alan Long
Seems to me
Good point, Bryan. If you are going to use lots of electricity and have to replentish it daily, solar panels are probably not the way to go on a 26 foot boat. I (and I suspect most) users of medium sized trailerable sailboats have light power needs. In my case, a couple of instruments, lights, stereo, electric start for the motor and a few fans. I'll use the boat for a couple of days then it will be unused for a week or maybe two. Thats a lot of time for the batteries to be topped off by the solar panel and it doesn't have to be a very large one. An amp or two should be plenty if you figure 4 amp hours a day x 14 days= 56 amp hours. The important consideration is how much electricity do you need and how often do you need it? Alan Long S/V Random Access (23.5)
Good point, Bryan. If you are going to use lots of electricity and have to replentish it daily, solar panels are probably not the way to go on a 26 foot boat. I (and I suspect most) users of medium sized trailerable sailboats have light power needs. In my case, a couple of instruments, lights, stereo, electric start for the motor and a few fans. I'll use the boat for a couple of days then it will be unused for a week or maybe two. Thats a lot of time for the batteries to be topped off by the solar panel and it doesn't have to be a very large one. An amp or two should be plenty if you figure 4 amp hours a day x 14 days= 56 amp hours. The important consideration is how much electricity do you need and how often do you need it? Alan Long S/V Random Access (23.5)
See today's edition of SailNet (no text)
The main article is on solar power for cruising boats. Peter S/V Raven
The main article is on solar power for cruising boats. Peter S/V Raven
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