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Opinions wanted on my solar plans please


grockell

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Hi all,

 

Spring is approaching and so is all of that glorious sunshine (hopefully).

 

I currently have a presumably very old 80w sony solar panel on my boat. I'd like to move this to the roof bow and have this charge a set of batteries I have going spare in the cratch, which will be hooked up to a 600w inverter for occasional use (a blender mainly! :apple:).

 

I am going to visit the Bimble warehouse next week to with the intention to purchase three of their own branded 100w solar panels, a MTTP controller (undecided which one) and obviously cable. These will charge my 440ah battery bank at the aft, which is also charged via alternator and powers all appliances. Ideally, I'd like the solar to be able to turn 360 degrees on its horizontal and 90 degrees, or close to on it's vertical. The easiest way I have thought of is through making a box for the panels to sit on with arms/legs on each corner which can be placed in positions to tilt the panels, dependent on where the sun is. (I hope that makes sense)

 

Does anyone have any suggestions re mounts?

Any experience dealing with Bimble and their own branded solar?

How do people secure their solar to save them being stolen?

The panels im looking at are ~0.67m wide, which gives plenty of space to walk either side, does anyone have solar which covers the entire width of the roof (1-1.3m)?

 

any feedback/constructive criticism would be very much appreciated.

 

Cheers and happy boating

 

George

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I have my doubts about the benefit of angled panels unless you are going to track the sun.  Yes you will get more if they are pointing at the sun,  but unless they are tracked you could finish up getting less than if mounted flat.  Plus you don't have to worry about high winds and less chance of damage from ropes etc.  Just make sure there is an inch or so air gap between the panel and the roof.

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How are you planing to use your boat? I you will spend most of your time in a marina or contiuous moored then steerable panels could give you more bang. If you intend to travel flat pannels will cost you less £££ & hassel. A couple of years ago I earned quite a lot for removing fancy mounts & refitting the panels fixed/flat for people who boat.

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7 hours ago, Taslim said:

How are you planing to use your boat? I you will spend most of your time in a marina or contiuous moored then steerable panels could give you more bang. If you intend to travel flat pannels will cost you less £££ & hassel. A couple of years ago I earned quite a lot for removing fancy mounts & refitting the panels fixed/flat for people who boat.

 

I agree. Given the high cost of swivelly-tilty mounting gizmology, you're better off spending that same money on more panels to lie flat on the roof.

 

 

 

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If you have the ability to build your own then you remove the high cost. I made timber boxes with a swivel top (lid), the swivel I manufactured out of the base of a cheap redundant office swivel chair. I mounted the panels on the lid using upvc window hinges. The boxes give me extra storage, they fit under low bridges without needing removal, even under the lowest bridge on the middle levels. 

At 9am in the summer my two x 150 watt panels give double the amps into the batteries when pointed at the sun compared to laying flat. Spring and autumn see similar returns for more hours during the day with the sun at a lower angle.  With my usage when I'm moored up wanting to maintain my battery I tend to be around the boat so pushing the panels round every hour or so is no hardship. If it's windy I will leave them flat. 

They are not the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye but sometimes function over form is better. It enables me to be self sufficient for most of the time I am on the boat with panel sizes that mean I can still walk on the roof and the panels don't get in the way of using the center rope.

Edited by WhiteSuit
I bought my panels from ebay but used Bimble for MPPT controller and cabling. At the time Bimble were well recomended on here and I was happy with their service/product
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