Boathook
Well-known member
It is low but then the weather for the last week has been very dull and misty and no real brightness so it doesn't surprise me.
Fitted my new 80w solar panel today
- Thread starter Rhylsailer99
- Start date
Grith
Active member
So glad to live here in Australia not the gloomy UK!
Regardless an 80w solar panel is little more than a trickle charger for battery maintenance on anything but a bright clear sunny day.
Between rigging shading issues and general panel performance I rarely see better than 50 percent of quoted wattage from good quality panels unless conditions are near ideal.
We have over a 1000w fitted to a large cruising oriented trailer sailer.
Regardless an 80w solar panel is little more than a trickle charger for battery maintenance on anything but a bright clear sunny day.
Between rigging shading issues and general panel performance I rarely see better than 50 percent of quoted wattage from good quality panels unless conditions are near ideal.
We have over a 1000w fitted to a large cruising oriented trailer sailer.
Beneteau381
Well-known member
Just set his amp meter on his multimeter to 10ams and put it across the output whilst it’s disconnected. Instant amps readout
Beneteau381
Well-known member
Is that a croc in the swamp in the background?So glad to live here in Australia not the gloomy UK!
Regardless an 80w solar panel is little more than a trickle charger for battery maintenance on anything but a bright clear sunny day.
Between rigging shading issues and general panel performance I rarely see better than 50 percent of quoted wattage from good quality panels unless conditions are near ideal.
We have over a 1000w fitted to a large cruising oriented trailer sailer.
Grith
Active member
No Crocs on The Murray River in South Australia! Yes we have them in some fantastic cruising destinations in the far north of Australia. We are planning three months without resupply up in The Kimberley’s next year. The crocs up there can be half the size of our yacht!Is that a croc in the swamp in the background?
Just adds to the excitement and challenge.
Down here in sunny Australia our house, camper and yacht can all run entirely grid independent on our solar and battery systems fitted to each of these.
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Neeves
Well-known member
Grith,No Crocs on The Murray River in South Australia! Yes we have them in some fantastic cruising destinations in the far north of Australia. We are planning three months without resupply up in The Kimberley’s next year. The crocs up there can be half the size of our yacht!
Just adds to the excitement and challenge.
Down here in sunny Australia our house, camper and yacht can all run entirely grid independent on our solar and battery systems fitted to each of these. View attachment 187419
View attachment 187420
View attachment 187421
Happy New Year to you both, may it be healthy and successful.
I think you are correct with your 1,000 watt panel field (or thereabouts) even in sunny Australia - how people survive with less, in less sunny locations, is questionable. Despite ideas to the contrary 'sunny Australia' has bouts of not sunny, consecutive, days - it even rains and the 1,000 watts (or thereabouts) is essential.
But you obviously have a battery bank for 'not' sunny days - for you to be self sufficient what is the size of your battery bank?
You imply your home solar gives you self sufficiency - what solar do you manage to squeeze onto the yacht (and again what size of battery do you have?).
When you are up country - what happens to all those amps you farm - are you feeding to the grid? ...... or is your solar farm moveable, on the camper and yacht
Take care, stay safe
Jonathan
Grith
Active member
Hi Jonathan
Our yacht has around 600ah of lithium batteries along with our around 1000w of solar panels and two big inverters as does our slide on camper on AWD offroad capable truck. We never need to plug into the grid at caravan parks (which we rarely use ) or marinas ( also use very rarely).
Our very cheap recently purchased navigable waterfront retirement home base now has 12.6kw of solar panels and a Bluetti Ep760 inverter and 2 x B500 4950wh batteries.
Our surplus solar production at home is fed into the grid for a tiny feed in tariff which generates a small credit bill at all times when we are home or off adventuring.
Our system can take over when the grid goes down and power our whole home or we could even choose to grid disconnect entirely but we would lose this small quarterly credit payment from our supplier and not do our bit to power the rest of the grid by solar.
Amazing advances have been made in these areas both in capability and lowering the cost in the last few years.
PS Most of the battery inverter capacity is portable and moves between the yacht and camper (EcoFlow delta max 2 units ) which whilst expensive provide a comprehensive and portable solution.
Neeves
Well-known member
Thanks Grith,
Interesting to know you move some of the units from land to marine - its a very cost effective option.
Good to get the detail for the complete systems - it would be useful data for anyone planning something similar or simply powering a yacht.
Jonathan
Interesting to know you move some of the units from land to marine - its a very cost effective option.
Good to get the detail for the complete systems - it would be useful data for anyone planning something similar or simply powering a yacht.
Jonathan
Beneteau381
Well-known member
Oh dear me! “how people survive with less, in less sunny locations, is questionable”. I have 550 watts on the rail shared both sides. I can live off grid indefinitely in Portugal. Fridge on full time, tele on watching dvds as and when. Don’t skimp, it just all works.
Beneteau381
Well-known member
Worked in Angola many years ago. The company finally bought us a leisure ski boat. We were on the banks of the river Congo. I helped build an oil field camp there! First time out we went up a creek where there was a sand bar between it and the Atlantic. Perfect for a bbq, beer etc. I could mono ski pretty good in those days. So of we went. I fell off whilst show boating in the middle of the creek. The thought crept into my mind! Crocs? We didnt know. The few minutes it took to get the boat back to me seemed for ever! Dangling feet played mind games with my head! I never did find out whether there were any crocs there! I did find out that there were what the locals called sea pigs, a manatee type of animal there after I saw one of the lads chewing on a cooked flipper!No Crocs on The Murray River in South Australia! Yes we have them in some fantastic cruising destinations in the far north of Australia. We are planning three months without resupply up in The Kimberley’s next year. The crocs up there can be half the size of our yacht!
Just adds to the excitement and challenge.
Down here in sunny Australia our house, camper and yacht can all run entirely grid independent on our solar and battery systems fitted to each of these. View attachment 187419
View attachment 187420
View attachment 187421
Grith
Active member
Yes we have two EcoFlow Delta Max 2 lithium Powerpacks (168ah each and with 240v 2400w inverters) and these are connected to 2 100ah lithium batteries in the yacht via an EcoFlow alternator charger. They provide both 240v and 12v power in the yacht. There is also a conventional cranking engine starting battery.
The EcoFlow powerpack units are directly plug in connected to the solar panels on the yacht and neatly fit below dinette seats in nouva rade hatches with attached plastic boxes with venting and cable holes cut in the sides.
The EcoFlow alternator charger is also fitted into a pelican style case making it fairly waterproof as well.
The EcoFlow Delta Max 2 Powerpacks are 23kg each and transfer to the slide on camper also under the dinette seats there. The camper also has 2x 190ah lithium house batteries which also connect to the Delta max’s via the EcoFlow alternator charger in its pelican box also transferred across.
The camper house batteries are charged by a 50ah redarc engine alternator charger which is also an mppt solar controller connected to the camper’s solar panels and these are prioritised over alternator draw.
The EcoFlow alternator charger can transfer power in both directions at up to 800w per hour all remotely monitored and adjusted by phone app as are the delta max’s. In the yacht surplus power is feed to the 100ah batteries for extra storage and in the camper to the Delta Max’s for provision of 240v power.
This set up in the camper allows us to run the reverse cycle aircond both during the day on solar and overnight on battery.
Up until recently the Delta max’s also provided our homes emergency backup power for grid outages further extending their use when not off adventuring.
EcoFlow alternator charger made portable and more water resistant. Cable access was cut after this photo.
EcoFlow Delta max2 in under settee seat hatch with attached box.
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noelex
Well-known member
Oh, how times have changed. Our first cruising yacht had 43W of solar (later upgraded to a whopping 75W) as the only charging source. We would regularly cruise for 6 weeks or more off-grid.
Luxury. And you try and tell the young people of today that, and they won’t believe you (apologies to Monty Python).
Luxury. And you try and tell the young people of today that, and they won’t believe you (apologies to Monty Python
).Grith
Active member
Much the same but our Jarcat 6 had 64w of solar panels back in 2000 and we were out cruising in The Whitsundays for 5 weeks and ran a compressor refrigerator, lights and other electricals off that and the tiny outboard alternator!Oh, how times have changed. Our first cruising yacht had 43W of solar (later upgraded to a whopping 75W) as the only charging source. We would regularly cruise for 6 weeks or more off-grid.
Luxury. And you try and tell the young people of today that, and they won’t believe you (apologies to Monty Python
PS My daughters mother also tried to blow us up with a pressurised meths stove losing her eyebrows and some hair in the process at that time.
My new partner and I now cook via an induction cooktop!
Neeves
Well-known member
We are well into the 21st Century and technology has changed. We can now live 'off grid' to the same degree of comfort as we do at 'home' on grid, illustrated by Grith, Sea Change, Geem and many other. Prices of solar panel have dropped as have Lithium batteries (and you only need to go back a few years and Lithium was simply never mentioned).
Grith has added a new dimension by making his 'power station' modular such that he can move 'it' (or some of the big ticket items) from home to mobile home to boat. I've mentioned it before - and been ridiculed - but there is much investment in 'off grid' capability in yachts - when those yachts are not being used - that power could be fed to the grid (or used in a mobile home, caravan).
Not forgetting the concept that off grid on a yacht is so different to offered in a caravan.
There is simply little connection in what we did then, choose your own data point, and what is possible now.
Pressurised paraffin stoves were common place for 14 year old's who camped for their DofE 50 years ago (and few lost eyebrows). I had fondly imagined the current generation of DofE participants used the same stoves?
Times change.
Jonathan
Grith has added a new dimension by making his 'power station' modular such that he can move 'it' (or some of the big ticket items) from home to mobile home to boat. I've mentioned it before - and been ridiculed - but there is much investment in 'off grid' capability in yachts - when those yachts are not being used - that power could be fed to the grid (or used in a mobile home, caravan).
Not forgetting the concept that off grid on a yacht is so different to offered in a caravan.
There is simply little connection in what we did then, choose your own data point, and what is possible now.
Pressurised paraffin stoves were common place for 14 year old's who camped for their DofE 50 years ago (and few lost eyebrows)
. I had fondly imagined the current generation of DofE participants used the same stoves?Times change.
Jonathan
Neeves
Well-known member
I'm impressed - you run a 'double burner' induction hob, fridge, deep freeze (big enough to freeze down a decent sized tuna), bread maker, desalinator for 2 showers each per day all off 550 watts of solar 24/7/months - and the sun shines 12/7/12 months (and only rains at night).
Jonathan
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Beneteau381
Well-known member
Oh dear me!
Neeves
Well-known member
Yes - its the 21st Century, (many have moved on from no showers and Fray Bentos meat pies) - all that the Century has to offer is available to you - and I suspect more will become available.
Jonathan
Beneteau381
Well-known member
In the 20th century, when I was a boy, a man used to come around the neighbourhood with a knife sharpener mounted on a bicycle. It seems his services are still required?
noelex
Well-known member
There is no definitive answer to this question. Our current boat is equipped with over 1,000 watts of solar power, enabling induction cooking, a refrigerator, a freezer, a watermaker, a washing machine, hot showers, etc.
It is still not a house. No air conditioning, dishwasher, ice maker, clothes dryer, giant TV, Playstation, heated spa etc. Of course, some boats install these appliances and the means to generate the required power. Good on them.
Our first cruising yacht had a minimal electrical system, and we had an incredible time cruising safely to remote destinations for extended periods.
After more than 17 years of full-time cruising, we have met many different boats with happy couples. There is no minimum essential household appliances for enjoying successful cruising. Suggesting that such a bar exists is simply allowing our own preferences to try and dictate what others must do.
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