Solar Panels mounted on boat
- Thread starter saanauk
- Start date
Rain City
Crew Member
brutus
Well-Known Member
I put some on my rig last winter and it does the job , keep bsttery top up when i am away. If you drain your battery too much it take a long time to recharge just with solar only 10 amp at peak performance, it does help but unless you want to put a. **** load of panels on your boat its just good for maintenance
Rain City
Crew Member
Really I'm just looking to offset the fridge being left on. Right now I turn the fridge off at night and I check the battery levels regularly. With all that I was getting a couple days without having to start. This was definitely just so I'd have a passive top-up so I could leave the fridge on and not have to think about it. We'd end up starting and going for a fish and I'd find myself wanting to leave the boat running longer or checking the charge level and all that. I just don't really want to have to think about it for an extra day or two.
kaelc
Well-Known Member
I've bought a good Victron MPPT Marine Controller from Trotac that has Bluetooth built-in. Purchased Solar panels Renology off Amazon for $130 for 100W. I'm going to do 2x100w which should be good for the summer based on what guys are saying down south. In the winter it might maintain but likely won't offset a fridge+anything. I'm paying an installer, just cause it will take them 1/3rd the time and it will be done better than I ever could.
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=27686 "set up to run the whole boat for a week or more at anchor. This includes our new more efficient Isotherm fridge, Engel freezer and Spectra watermaker, and everything else. I installed 2 Sunpower 110 watt semi-flexible panels permanently on the cabin top, a perfect fit, expensive but designed for salt water marine use. I fabricated aluminum brackets that attach to the radar arch and extend back over the bimini and just yesterday set up a removable 170 watt Sunpower panel (25% efficiency) that will only be put up on long cruises. The total watt potential is almost 400 and runs through a Morningstar 30 amp marine grade MPPT controller that can convert excess voltage into watts unlike conventional old style controllers."
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=27686 "set up to run the whole boat for a week or more at anchor. This includes our new more efficient Isotherm fridge, Engel freezer and Spectra watermaker, and everything else. I installed 2 Sunpower 110 watt semi-flexible panels permanently on the cabin top, a perfect fit, expensive but designed for salt water marine use. I fabricated aluminum brackets that attach to the radar arch and extend back over the bimini and just yesterday set up a removable 170 watt Sunpower panel (25% efficiency) that will only be put up on long cruises. The total watt potential is almost 400 and runs through a Morningstar 30 amp marine grade MPPT controller that can convert excess voltage into watts unlike conventional old style controllers."
brutus
Well-Known Member
100 watt panel at peak will give you 5 amp, so not sure what your fridge is pulling for amp but 100watt should be enough to offset
Rain City
Crew Member
I think I can fit the 160 watt. Does quality matter? Like is a Coleman good? I have no idea.
brutus
Well-Known Member
Coleman are not the greatest but they work, that is what i put on my boat, and tested them for performance and it work as they should,
brutus
Well-Known Member
160 watt should give you 7 amp at peak performace, put at least a 10 amp charge controler, better would be a 20 amp that way if you want to add solar anels later you could
brutus
Well-Known Member
Yup that works
Sir Reel
Well-Known Member
That’s the panel I Have RC. With 2 x 150 watt panels. I see 10 amps on a good sunny day and can have quite a bit running and still a positive charge. On our Princess Louisa trip we were without shore power for 3 days and still had about 72% battery left. We only got a few hours of sun there because of the steep hills so maybe charged for 4 hours each day.
The other folks with us were running Honda generators for a few hours each day. A friend with another Commander 30 got the flexible ones like you had and sewed them on the Bimini. 300 Watts I think. He is happy with them.
When I got the boat one of the first things I wanted to do was get rid of the panels. Then I saw how much power they put out when at anchor. So they are still there. May look at going to flexible ones and sew into top of deck cover.
I converted all lights to LED too. That really helps. As everyone says the big draw is the fridge
The other folks with us were running Honda generators for a few hours each day. A friend with another Commander 30 got the flexible ones like you had and sewed them on the Bimini. 300 Watts I think. He is happy with them.
When I got the boat one of the first things I wanted to do was get rid of the panels. Then I saw how much power they put out when at anchor. So they are still there. May look at going to flexible ones and sew into top of deck cover.
I converted all lights to LED too. That really helps. As everyone says the big draw is the fridge
