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Solar Set Up Advice please :)


Larentia

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Hi all, I've decided that I'm def. needing panels. I've read through lots of posts already, know much more than I did but I'm not quite sure what's best for my needs.

I liveaboard, have a home mooring which has shoreline but I also spend a fair bit of time cruising. When I'm on my own, my batteries last well. I have 4 x 230AH domestic batteries, an engine starter battery with a 120Amp Victron Phoenix. Smartgauge fitted. I have a travel pack generator which I only very rarely use.

I've looked at what's at bimblesolar.com, happy with a set up that has brackets and that is fixed. I'm intending to glue the brackets and not drill holes in my roof. 

I'd really value people's thoughts on what specific panels would be best. Cost isn't really an issue as I want to get this right. Looking at one or two panels so I can stay out for longer without needing to run the engine and to get off total reliance on shoreline/running the engine for power/charging.

My boat is a 57ft trad.

Thank you.

 

Edited by Larentia
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1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

I've got 4 Sanyo/Panasonic panels attached with pot magnets. I'm very happy with the arrangement, but may not be approved of by the traditionalists. 

Well tell the traditionalists to sod off then :D Lets face it its not possible to have " Traditional " solar panels so have what you want and next time a " Trad boater " moans at you kick his horse, put a whole in his elm bottom and smack him with his water can.

  • Haha 1
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5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Well tell the traditionalists to sod off then :D Lets face it its not possible to have " Traditional " solar panels so have what you want and next time a " Trad boater " moans at you kick his horse, put a whole in his elm bottom and smack him with his water can.

You are of course right, but some panels are probably more  aesthetically pleasing  than others. 

I reckon walk on panels are suited to some boats, although probably not as efficient. 

Edited by rusty69
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We went down the Bimble route and it's been excellent.  I didn't like the brackets and so knocked up my own from a pallet. It does hinge and has props but we never  lift the panels. The wiring goes through a mushroom. The weight of the panels holds everything in place. Two x 100w panels plus an MPPT and a display was £300 with wire, fuse etc.

 

20170812_102625.jpg

Edited by Peter-Bullfinch
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19 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

You are of course right, but some panels are probably more  aesthetically pleasing  than others. 

I reckon walk on panels are suited to some boats, although probably not as efficient. 

Quoting (again) the test results in this months PBO.

Solar panels in these latitudes will produce an average of something like 50% of their rated out put when compared to the 'laboratory tests'.

So your 100w panel is effectively 50w

An adhesive panel is 15% less efficient than one mounted with an 'air gap' behind it.

So your 50w now becomes 42.5w

You now use a PWM controller (rather than an MPPT) and lose another 30%

So your 42.5w is now actually 29.75w.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Quoting (again) the test results in this months PBO.

Solar panels in these latitudes will produce an average of something like 50% of their rated out put when compared to the 'laboratory tests'.

So your 100w panel is effectively 50w

An adhesive panel is 15% less efficient than one mounted with an 'air gap' behind it.

So your 50w now becomes 42.5w

You now use a PWM controller (rather than an MPPT) and lose another 30%

So your 42.5w is now actually 29.75w.

 

 

Just been on a tour of someone's lovely Hudson, not sure rigid panels would have looked good

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2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Just been on a tour of someone's lovely Hudson, not sure rigid panels would have looked good

I had rigid panels on my Hudson and they worked great, Solar panels are not snobbish, my Hudson being mine was beautiful but distinctly working class.

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3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I had rigid panels on my Hudson and they worked great, Solar panels are not snobbish, my Hudson being mine was beautiful but distinctly working class.

Im sure rigid panels are more efficient, thats why I have them. In my view, they would have spolit the look of this particular boat, but flexible ones were acceptable to my eye. 

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53 minutes ago, Peter-Bullfinch said:

We went down the Bimble route and it's been excellent.  I didn't like the brackets and so knocked up my own from a pallet. It does hinge and has props but we never  lift the panels. The wiring goes through a mushroom. The weight of the panels holds everything in place. Two x 100w panels plus an MPPT and a display was £300 with wire, fuse etc.

 

20170812_102625.jpg

This is a fab idea, people's comments about glue noted although I had heard that it was a good alternative to drilling holes.

Edited by Larentia
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7 minutes ago, Larentia said:

This is a fab idea, people's comments about glue noted although I had heard that it was a good alternative to drilling holes.

Sorry, i may have confused matters mentioning Hudsons and their washers/rivets that are apparently glued on. 

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58 minutes ago, matty40s said:

I think the glue on rivets are a much worse problem,  even before solar is considered 

But a decent Hudson like mine didn't have silly fake rivets. Only the extra silly ones do and they pay more for em :lol:

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i have 4x100 w panels . I have them fitted into frames much like those in the picture above but made from decking planks . They aren t " fitted " to the roof with anything except thier own weight . The cables go thru a mushroom  vent beneath the panels and a chain is fitted which also runs thru the vent .  I think my solar set up is the best money ive spent  on my boat .

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On ‎12‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 13:03, Detling said:

A proper TRAD boat has a horse not an engine (working boats had 200 years of horses only, 50 years with engines)

Yep you are right and they are/were made of wood.

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