Solar Panels

[Bob S]

I want to thank everyone for their help. I finished winterizing my first boat. I'm still pondering buying a reusable canvas tarp in lue of shrink wrapping which ends up in a landfill. My real question is in battery maintenance. I will be on a mooring so I want to add a solar panel next spring to charge my batteries. I've seen them reasonably priced at West Marine. Can you just plug it into the cigarette lighter connection on the panel and or wire directly into the system? What power rating is best 2 watt, 15 watt?Thank youBob

 

[Dennis W.]

cheap solar

Bob Small solar panels (15-35 watts) will overcome the natural self discharge of your wet cell batteries while your boat is not being used and normally would not require a charge controller or regulator. They can be connected directly to your battery bank, but, you must install an appropriate in-line fuse. For larger panels you should also have some type of regulator/controller to avoid over charging your batteries. Check out www.ecobusinesslinks.com for best prices and info solar panels of all types and sizes.Popeye, S/V Fullsailed

 

[Stu Jackson]

How big is your house bank

and how would you charge your start bank?Need to know sizes and system unless you just want ONLY a tiny trickle charger.Try this: http://www.freesunpower.com/designtools.php

 

[Ross]

Volkswagon ships their cars with a 12x12 inch

solar panel to keep their batteries charged during transit and storage. Then some one sells them on Ebay. These are about 3-4 watts. I use one to drive ventilation fans when the boat is not in service. I never have any trouble if a battery sits for only 4-5 months as long as EVERYTHING is turned off.

 

[shorty]

20 watt

I have a 20 watt from link below. Keeps my two 105AH AGM batteries quite happy between boat visits. Make sure to get a regulator that will accommodate two batteries. No need to pay West Marine prices.

 

[Taylor]

Resources

SV Hotwire has a website and is a vendor of solar products for marine use... it would be worth checking their website. http://www.svhotwire.comI also very much liked Northern Arizona Wind and Sun - http://www.windsun.com/ They also have a forum that will answer specific questions. In general, you can use a small solar panel without a controller and just plug it straight into the battery or a lighter socket. As the battery voltage rises, the solar output will drop. They do a good job of topping up batteries for maintenance. I think the calculation assumes 1% loss per day, so 100Ah looses 1Ah per day. Then you need to figure out how much effective light you are going to have on average per day in the off season times however many amps your panel puts out. Minus the losses from the seagull poop on the panel. No one mentioned that when I sized mine.