Solar Panels

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

Blane

.
Apr 11, 2013
10
hunter 380 daytona beach
Being from Florida it's all about the sunshine and solar.
I have read that you can buy solar panels at $1/watt but are these recommended for marine use? my dealer has the 140 watt for $356 that is recommended for marine use. the larger ones he says he sell by the pallet. And they are only in the 250-300 watt range. And you need a charge controllor that costs more than the panels. any info you have found would be greatly appreciated.
Can someone shead some light on this (no punn intended)
 
M

Mike B1026

.
Jun 17, 2007
402
MacGregor Mac26S Victoria Tx
Just one observation, you need a controller for any of those panels, even down to a 10 watt panel, providing you don't wish to damage your battery bank.
 
Jeff Jellick

Jeff Jellick

.
Feb 16, 2012
198
Hunter 45 CC Alamitos Bay, Long Beach
Blaine,

Check out Northern Arizona Wind and Sun's web site. I bought my Kyocera 135-watt panels, combiner box, wire, and circuit breakers from them, GREAT company and excellent service.

I bought my controller from Blue Sky Energy, I got the 3024 Dil Solar Boost Controller, and the IPN Pro-Remote, so as to monitor everything from the nav station. They also sponson a Solar Forum, that was a lot of help to me when I first started doing research on Solar for my sailboat.

Good Luck,
Jeff
 
WayneH

WayneH

.
Jan 22, 2008
1,094
Tartan 37 287 Pensacola, FL
I bought my two 95watt panels and a Sunsaver Duo with remote from www.wholesalesolar.com and I think I got a great deal. My usage is low enough to run all my nav instruments, the boat laptop as backup chartplotter and the refrigeration and still stay ahead of the drain. Your mileage WILL vary.
 
ifmdalvey

ifmdalvey

.
Feb 2, 2010
373
Island Packet 37 Hull #2 Harpswell Me
I fitted an Morningstar MPPT 45 controller for my system, that type would appear to be best suited to solar panel output.
 
T

teacher63

.
May 9, 2010
131
Hunter 23 WIll be at a Navy base
From one who burnt out 7 batteries in 7 years because some brilliant person that installed the panel on my camper put the wrong controller on and the result was 7 batteries. I am looking to put panels on my camper and you must have a controller but I have seen a great deal cheaper. What you need to make sure of is the controller is a minimum the same number of watts as the panel, preferably a little bigger is not a bad idea. I was looking at a 30 volt and like 400watts and it was a little over 100 bucks.
 
trainmanjess

trainmanjess

.
Dec 7, 2012
515
Kittiwake 23, Irwin 43 .. Indianapolis / indianatown, fl
hello all

i like the idea of using solar panels to recharge the batteries... i have 2- 30 watt solar panels that fit on my sliding conpanionway top... they were $65 total from windy nation.... they are selfcontained and plug in ready... just mount them, and plug them in, in series...... then i got a solar power controller from wincong... it monitors the batteries, diverts the charge when the batteries are full, and i can draw from the panels directly into the electrical needs of my boat.. i got the PWM solar charge controller for $25, and free shipping... it has a number of functions and settings you can program into it... it is plug in ready too... i find them both very easy to set up and use...

sincerely
Jess
 
Sumner

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
You can find the panels that will charge a 12 volt battery (they put out 17-18 volts) for about $1.25 to $1.45 a watt and use a less expensive PWM controller if that is what you want.

To get into the $1.00 a watt or less figure you are probably going to have to go with 24 volt panels and to use those you need the more expensive MPPT controller, but you can save money on the wiring (smaller size and the panel) so now the MPPT is a little less.

We have bought all of our panels from Solar Blvd where they have a 100 watt right now for $125.00...

http://www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Pane...00-Watt-12-Volt-Solar-Panel/product_info.html

... but the place Bob posted about in Florida has been a source for a number of boaters.

We also bought Blue Sky MPPT controllers from Solar Blvd and stayed with 12 volt panels in parallel just in case we loose a panel for some reason which did happen once. Do your homework and read more on the subject as there can often be unintentional miss information on the subject.

We have 200 watts...



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-33.html

...on one boat and ....



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-electrical/electrical-index.html

...480 on the other and are extremely happy with solar,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================[/FONT]

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

.
Feb 6, 1998
11,709
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Bob 04 H260 said:
This company has an office in Miami, prices look good to me,
http://www.sunelec.com/solar-panels-c-5.html

You can also look at another Florida supplier, they have sailboat kits,
http://www.emarineinc.com/categories/Solar-Mounting-Kits/Top-of-Bimini-Kits-for-Sail-Boats/

I have not purchased from either of them.

good luck, Bob
Click to expand
EMarine is top notch. With solar you very often get what you pay for, and all the eMarine products are time tested in the marine market plus they build some beautiful mounting kits, which can save alot of money in back yard engineering..

Keep in mind that many of the inexpensive Chinese panels use a junction box that is robot applied and simply uses friction between the j-box and the panels leads to make the connection. I've come across two now that would not pass any current. They read open circuit voltage but after a season in salt air they would not pass any current.

Better quality panels use j-boxes applied and installed in an entirely different manner and do not just rely on "friction" to create the contact between the panel connections and the j-box..

I've also seen non-anodized frames and delamination on some cheap panels. If you stick with a reputable retailer, eMarine, Norther Arizona Wind Sun, Alt E, Wholesale Solar, Aurinco and a bunch of others you'll be doing well. Sum has been happy with his Solar Blvd products but he also just said he got a bad panel.... That should not happen...

Controllers are the same way and this is an area NOT to skimp on....
 
Sumner

Sumner

.
Jan 31, 2009
5,254
Macgregor & Endeavour 26S and 37 Utah's Canyon Country
Maine Sail said:
.... Sum has been happy with his Solar Blvd products but he also just said he got a bad panel.........
Click to expand
I guess I worded that badly. We have never gotten a bad panel from Solar Blvd ( 11 at this point). The bad panel happened because I ran it into a piling in Florida :redface:. In that case I called and they shipped out a new one to us the same day from CA and we had it a couple days later and continued the trip. Their service has been great, now if I can keep the panels out of pilings things will be fine. Some of the panels we bought are about 3 years old at this point and working fine.

In the west there are no pilings on the lakes we have been on so having things hanging out past the sides is no big deal, but I reconfigured the panels on the Mac to help with this and also did the same with the panels on the Endeavour,

Sum

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]============================[/FONT]

Our Endeavour 37

Our MacGregor 26-S Pages

Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom