vic008
Active member
Very seldom see this. Any reason?Obviously dont want the boom smashing, and would rest the boom clear on the lifelines. Good idea?
Panel above dodger
- Thread starter vic008
- Start date
pcatterall
Well-known member
I have never seen it..... but still waiting Vic
RJJ
Well-known member
I can't see a particular problem except the shade of the boom.
Spirit (of Glenans)
Well-known member
I'm trying very hard to visualise this.
Assuming that it is a British dodger rather than an American one, it will extend up to the height of the lifelines. If you somehow add a panel above it, on both sides, how , apart from a tunnel vision foreward, will you see out of the cockpit?
Assuming that it is a British dodger rather than an American one, it will extend up to the height of the lifelines. If you somehow add a panel above it, on both sides, how , apart from a tunnel vision foreward, will you see out of the cockpit?
stu9000
Active member
I looked carefully at sewing attachment points for a flexi panel on my spray dodger but decided against it.
Shading issues would significantly affect output.
I tend to drop my dodger quite a lot so the solution felt fiddly.
Flexi panels are reported to have a much shorter life than rigid panels.
I mounted rigid panels on the side rails with a gas strut to swivel them to the horizontal position when needed.
It works fairly well and in practice charge the battery well even when vertical.
However they feel a bit vulnerable to breakage so I am thinking about fabricating davits and mounting them on top at the back.
Shading issues would significantly affect output.
I tend to drop my dodger quite a lot so the solution felt fiddly.
Flexi panels are reported to have a much shorter life than rigid panels.
I mounted rigid panels on the side rails with a gas strut to swivel them to the horizontal position when needed.
It works fairly well and in practice charge the battery well even when vertical.
However they feel a bit vulnerable to breakage so I am thinking about fabricating davits and mounting them on top at the back.
prv
Well-known member
I thought at first you meant an instrument panel, up where it can be seen over the crew's heads...
Assuming the question is actually "Solar panel on top of sprayhood", I think it's something that's in fact seen reasonably often. Certainly for the sort of smaller flexible panel just meant to keep a battery topped up on a mooring, rather than provide all the power needed for a Caribbean liveaboard. For the latter you need rigid panels (more efficient) and more area than most sprayhoods can offer.
Reasons not to would be the additional faff when you want to drop the hood, and shadowing from the boom. A shadow knocks out the whole string of cells that any shadowed ones belong to, so depending on how subdivided a particular panel is, the effect can be greater than you might think. A panel slung on top of a sprayhood is going to be partially shadowed by the boom pretty much all the time.
Pete
Assuming the question is actually "Solar panel on top of sprayhood", I think it's something that's in fact seen reasonably often. Certainly for the sort of smaller flexible panel just meant to keep a battery topped up on a mooring, rather than provide all the power needed for a Caribbean liveaboard. For the latter you need rigid panels (more efficient) and more area than most sprayhoods can offer.
Reasons not to would be the additional faff when you want to drop the hood, and shadowing from the boom. A shadow knocks out the whole string of cells that any shadowed ones belong to, so depending on how subdivided a particular panel is, the effect can be greater than you might think. A panel slung on top of a sprayhood is going to be partially shadowed by the boom pretty much all the time.
Pete