In support of solar

Not sure is anywhere near that, the above was supply only, I do like the idea and looks greatly good tech, just need the cost to become reasonable, a water cooled electric motor should be lower manufacturing costs than a diesel at least.
Also the install of the first ocean volt unit they did was quite extensive as they converted from shaft to sail drive.
 
ctva said:
With the solar options available now and at cheap prices, has wind generation seen its day for most weekend cruisers?

Our 100w, and now upped to 200w, does us in Scotland.
Click to expand...
Scotland, and other northern regions, has the advantage of long hours of daylight in the summer months. My 140w does very well.
 
I just looked and the price you quoted is for the full kit including 48V battery bank and for the regen version as well as what looks like a mains charging system and other electronics. It's hard to compare apples to apples here. I'd suggest that for the unit only the cost will be much lower and more in line with an engine.

also, the €45k is £40k and there are probably discounts from list.
 
Or get it free like they have both times, they did start with a boat with no engine and had to do a fresh install so makes sense, it’s is a full conversion of boat and no real half way house from what I see on those that have done it.
Noticed that they have not gone electric for outboard, not sure they have explained this yet
 
Yes it's definitely an all or nothing thing which makes it way more scary. I certainly wouldn't do it yet until I can take my time with movements. I think the range is there for a day or two but getting back from a channel crossing for work on Monday it's not yet certain enough for my purposes. Once that's solved it's just a question of budget and would I spend that on an older boat. I'd rip out the diesel in a heartbeat, as I'm sure most would given the threads on these forums!
 
Well timed thread as our new installation was completed yesterday. Quite why we'd not done this before is beyond me, solar appears to be an absolute game changer.

We opted for 2 x 175W Victron panels, Victron MPPT controller, Victron DC DC charger and upgraded our domestic supply from 220ah of lead acid to 390ah of AGM. I'm sat here in my office looking at our remote monitor and the batteries are lapping up a healthy float charge on the swinging mooring!

Early days but I've a feeling this is going to prove one of the best investments yet.
 
I have two 150w panels mounted on a stern arch on my yacht and so far they have kept 440ah domestic bank at 100%. I dont have an inverter and all led lights so usage is low but will have to see how it goes over the winter for a real test.
 
lustyd said:
These are two very different statements. Obviously I've not seen your numbers but I would imagine that the (long term) economics actually would stack up but you were not comfortable with the initial outlay? Very curious about the numbers if that isn't the case I find this all extremely interesting (and sorry to the OP!)
Click to expand...

it was meant as a half-joke.

But on the serious side:

re-engining with diesel (inc new saildrive): <10K all inc
powering up with electric saildrive (and making it useable with regards to autonomy): >25K + plus unknown mods to the boat

I don't have 25K on a new engine, much as I would like to.
 
lustyd said:
My solar isn't even permanently mounted. I lay it out while anchored (2x100W flex panels) and connect with anderson plugs in a locker. It charges up the boat to 100% even with the fridge cold enough for making ice and laptop usage etc. I'd say that wind power has its place, but for weekend cruising probably not necessary.
Click to expand...
I'm interested in your set-up as it seems a cheap and easy solution to keep the batteries up while anchored for a couple of days? do you have a controller, or just connect directly to the house bank when at anchor? Any idea what type and make your panels are.
 
TiggerToo said:
re-engining with diesel (inc new saildrive): <10K all inc
powering up with electric saildrive (and making it useable with regards to autonomy): >25K + plus unknown mods to the boat

I don't have 25K on a new engine, much as I would like to.
Click to expand...
Perfectly reasonable choice, especially given the limitations of the current gen for "normal" sailing. That said, over the life of the engine the difference will be made up easily by parts and servicing as well as the obvious diesel which would probably bring them closer in the long long term. I'd have made the same choice, for the record, but the tipping point seems to be coming. These Oceanvolt motors are only expensive because they're rare. If production ramps up the costs will come down quickly as we're seeing with LiFePo4 cells
 
Rafiki said:
I'm interested in your set-up as it seems a cheap and easy solution to keep the batteries up while anchored for a couple of days? do you have a controller, or just connect directly to the house bank when at anchor? Any idea what type and make your panels are.
Click to expand...
Happy to give details. The panels are 100W Renogy flex panels from Amazon. These use MC4 connectors and I have a couple of short extension leads made up plus two very long ones from solar cable (from TLC Direct, 6mm reel). This allows me to place them anywhere on the boat in series or parallel depending on conditions. I generally lay them side by side on the coachroof and connect in parallel. The boat end of the long extension has an Anderson SB50 connector with the red handle for easy unplugging. This goes into the locker while in use and connects to another SB50 which has 6mm tinned cable back to the battery compartment. There I have a Victron MPPT 100/15 which connects to the battery direct (fused). I generally get 208W for a couple of hours at midday from this setup and by 11am the battery will be back to 100% according to the Victron Smart Battery Monitor. Both Victron devices connect to a Raspberry Pi running VenusOS (making it essentially a Cerbo) so I can monitor remotely.

The boat runs wifi 24x7, fridge 24x7 (cold enough for ice), 2xiphones charged every day, 2xlaptops, ipad. When sailing we also have a bunch of electronics including 2x9" plotters. We recently did a week away from power and were at 100% every day with 2x110AH AGM batteries. We did motor briefly to anchor on/off.
 
After having been down both the wind generator and gas generator routes, I can say that solar has changed the way we cruise in as much as it has given us a degree of freedom from the grid, as well as running various fossil fuel devices to keep the batteries charged. Wind generators are expensive, cumbersome to install, heavy and noisy. By the time there is enough wind to effect a noticeable output, you have much graver concerns than charging your batteries. For trade wind sailing they are useless.

We now have 300w of solar on the wheelhouse roof. At 35 euro for each solid frame 50w panel it is by far the cheapest way of getting power. Installed flat you take a 10-15% hit for not being able to align with the sun, but we have never run out of power, even into late fall in Northern climes. We have an MPPT charger, larger than needed, in case we had to further increase input; it has not been necessary.
 
I know that threads tend to drift, but can the dialogue about electric propulsion perhaps move to the more relevant thread started a few days ago - Hybrid Saildrive?

Both topics are of interest, but they are very different
A - solar panels, the topic of the OPs thread, are a low cost upgrade - arguably relevant to the vast majority of cruising yachts
B - electric propulsion, not this thread topic, is a relatively new and certainly massively higher cost technology as of today (if want any usable range)
So both interesting, but massively confusing when comments interspersed without any clarification
 
Delighted with our solar upgrade.
I made a bimini using a pair of 265w panels that I got for £80 secondhand. These feed in to a 271Ah lithium battery bank that I built. The cost for the cells, BMS, MPPT, and the wiring was about £600. I spent another £375 to add a big inverter which allows me to cook on an induction hob, run a Remoska oven, and use a proper toaster. Oh and it's dead handy for the laser printer and the wet and dry vacuum.

We've been living aboard for a couple of months now, and today we reluctantly had to go back to cooking with gas for the first time. We've had three days in a row of heavy rain and the lithium was down below 20%. But still, for the money, it's a pretty good system. At some point I will add another 400w of solar and after that I don't really expect to ever need the gas again.
 
I've installed two 90W Renogy solar panels in series (24V system) on the aft cabin roof. The next step is to mount further panels on the cabin roof. I think logically I should mount two smaller panels on the Starboard side and the same on the Port side so that I will get at least some charge while under sail. Is that the way to go?INKED Screenshot 2021-09-11 at 11-01-18 Roberts Mauritius Norfolk 43 Boat Plan Boatbuilding De...png
 
How are you getting on with those panels? I'd expect you would get a lot of shade under the mizzen boom, and unless you need 24v for dive reason it would be better to wire in parallel.
 
Yes. Solar is brilliant.

I just wish I had bought higher quality panels. I have 3 panels that fit the available deck space. Total of 55W. Unfortunately, they are all suffering from delimitation after 3 years and the lack of power is noticeable.
 
LONG_KEELER said:
Yes. Solar is brilliant.

I just wish I had bought higher quality panels. I have 3 panels that fit the available deck space. Total of 55W. Unfortunately, they are all suffering from delimitation after 3 years and the lack of power is noticeable.
Click to expand...
What's delimitation?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top