Are Solar Panels worth the bother?

[AndrewB]

I had been intending to get one at LIBS ... until I went through the sums with one of guys on the stand.

A 'semi-rigid' model rated at 35 watts, he opined, would deliver (with luck) and average 15Ah per day, at a cost of £365 including LIBS discount, plus a few accessories like a regulator that were glossed over.

My boat engine will generate 15Ah in approximately 15 minutes, at a cost of 12p including fuel, pro-rata engine maintenance and depreciation. So I need that solar panel to deliver for over 8 years to compete.

Do solar panels deliver full power for 8 years? Convince me, or it looks like I'm going to stay environmentally unfriendly.

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[Mirelle]

No.

Did same sort of sums, possibly with same bloke. At least I suspect it was the same bloke because the regulator issue got glossed over with me, too.

The paranoia that afflicts us boat owners takes many forms and one of them is "worrying about the battery". If you are a compulsive battery-worrier, then by all means get a solar panel. In fact, please get one, because the wind generator fitted by other battery-worriers is much worse for people on adjacent moorings!

Since I reckon to have to run my engine for at least one hour during a typical weekend's sailing, and like most of us I have two batteries, I concluded that solar power was a waste of money.



<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[LORDNELSON]

I keep on thinking about this myself. Solar panels sound attractive but up to now I have relied on the engine alternator and a small Honda generator in case all three batteries get flattened; so far this has not happened but the Honda is useful if I want to run the Eberspatcher/230 volt lighting when at anchor (and am a long way from any other boats!). Hondas are expensive if you buy them new but I purchased mine for £40 second hand and it has been very reliable. Of course if you are sailing great distances a solar panel would be very attractive. Not that, so far as I remember, Hiscock had either solar panel or Honda generator!

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[pvb]

Not in the UK...

Not enough sunshine. Spend a couple of hundred on adding batteries instead.

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[Shanty]

I have a 10watt panel connected to each of my batteries (110Ah). No regulator needed for a little panel on a big battery. I find that the panels are enough to take care of the self-discharge, and the occasional engineless daysail through the season.

During the winter, the panels keep the batteries topped up. Think this prolongs the life of the batteries - I've only had to replace one battery in the past twelve years, and that was as a result of leaving the vhf on all week by mistake.

Yes, solar panels can be worthwhile.

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[steve6367]

Good and affordable to make sure your batteries are fully charged when you arrive at the boat. Unless you are going to spend a lot they will not keep up with your demands while on the boat however. I have a cheap 10W into 2 x 110AH batteries and it is great as they are almost always sat at 13.8v when I arrive at the boat so I am at least starting with them fully charged.

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[LORDNELSON]

Re: No.

In general I agree but from time to time I am unable to visit the boat for a few weeks(I do not have shore side electricity) and it would, I think, be nice to have a little one to keep the batteries topped up

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[ex-Gladys]

Amber has a 10W fitted when we got her. At that point she had been largely unused for 18 months and hasn't had a whole pile of use since we got her. The batteries are always at top nick. It's a bit like using a battery conditioner on a rarely used car or motorcycle.

BTW SOlar panels don't need sun, they just need light.

<hr width=100% size=1>Larry Botheras

Anderson 26 "Amber"

 

[extravert]

As you have that generating capability from your engine, I would say that it is not worthwhile.

However, for outboard powered boats or other boats with limited engine generating capability, I would say that they are much more useful. I am in the second category, and hence have one. To put in 15Ah from my engine would require 3 hours running, obviously best avoided.

<hr width=100% size=1>One day, I hope to own a real boat.

 

[Talbot]

I have just invested in a major solar charge system with a 180w panel to mount above my dinghy davits. This is expected to provide 720 watt hrs per day. As I also have an outboard (10 amp charge max) I needed a lot more power. I can thoroughly recommend <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bardenbatteries.co.uk/>http://www.bardenbatteries.co.uk/</A> for good advice. They will not sell you something that will not work (and I got a good price for that and the appropriate regulator at the show).

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[supermalc]

My boat had a solar panel (10w?) fitted. She is a Mahogany clinker, and with moving and being out of the water, I was expecting a few leaks. In the event they are almost negligable, and seems to be pumping out less than once a day. So if I can't get for some reason, she should stay afloat indefinately.

So yes, solar panels are definately worthwhile.

<hr width=100% size=1>Malcolm. Just trying to be helpful.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Andrew - if you keep your boat on a mooring then I think it is worth it.

I fitted a 260 wpd (watts per day) last year, and being a battery worrier, it meant that after a weekends sail - with the fridge keeping the wine and beer cool, I didn't have to bother to fully charge the batteries on returning to the mooring because the solar panal would bring them up to full within a couple of days.

If you are in a marina - I wouldn't bother - just plug in when you leave.

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[Pelican]

Yes if your boat is on a swinging moorings as mine is...I have a 10wat panel on the aft deck which feeds my two batteries through a regulator and the batteries are always fully charged. No probs with the panel over the last 10 years. Dont forget solar panels only need light - not necessary sunshine to charge.
Pelican

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[yoda]

Ignore the sums, think about the practicality. Lets assume you tend to use the boat at weekends and the occasional longer holiday. With a small solar panel fitted you arrive on the boat every time to a fully charged battery that starts your engine. While away for the weekend / week you use the engine to replace the power used from the batteries. At the end of the week you motor back to the mooring causing the batteries to top up and you then leave the solar panel to keep it top line until the next visit. Now consider what happens without a solar panel and your battery is not upto that initial start of the engine after you reach the boat for a nice weekend away..................

Fit a small panel and use the engine for bigger charging requirements. Mine has been fitted for about 8 years and I've never had a flat battery since fitting it.

Yoda

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[Guest]

Totally agree ...

I have a 24.99 special from Car accessory shop tops up my battery ready for when I want it .... no fancy gubbins, no regulators etc.

So its only 5W or similar ..... but the main charging is when the engine is run. Panel keeps me capable of starting the engine !!! (Actually it was primarily put on to keep the auto-bilge pump battery topped up - its done that as well !!!!)

QED for me


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
So WHAT does the EU really stand for ????/forums/images/icons/cool.gif

 

[Guest]

At Marina plug-in prices ...

Get the panel !!!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
So WHAT does the EU really stand for ????/forums/images/icons/cool.gif

 

[AndrewB]

OK, point taken, but ...

... if that is the main reason for installing one, then it wouldn't really help me. I've three batteries, isolated from one another when the boat is left, and though sometimes one has proved dodgy, in seven years they have never all been "dead on arrival". In any case as I live aboard part of time, the boat is rarely left for long.

But for a boat left on a mooring with perhaps a month between visits -- then there's a point. Mind you, for £24.99 I would hang the expense!

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[BrendanChandler]

Honda Generators and starter packs

I thought that small honda generators only supplied DC at 12v which was not sufficient to charge batteries, unless you use it at 240v and use that to do the charging.

I am short of battery space and hence have wired by two 170 ah batteries together and use both for domestic and engine starting. Being a battery worried, I have just bought a starter pack so that if I allow the batteries to run down too far, I can still charge the batteries and this starter pak is only the sixes of a drill in its box.

I have a very quiet wind generator for use on longer trips.

Brendan

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http://hometown.aol.co.uk/brendanchandler/index.html