Neat solution for hatch cover solar?

[KevinV]

My tiny boat (17 foot) has very little real estate for solar, just the companionway hatch , or the area it slides over. I currently use a small portable panel in the cockpit, which supplies enough to keep things topped up, but is messy. I was thinking a curved panel on top of the hatch would be perfect - but how to connect it? A cable would dangle down when the hatch is forward and look a bit Heath Robinson. I was wondering if anyone has done anything neat with sliding connectors? Or any other neat and tidy ideas?

I'm having to change the hatch runners anyway, and it's all wood, so I don't mind it being a bit complicated if it gets the right result.

 

[oilybilge]

How about one of those plastic cable 'chains' they use in 3D printers?

 

[Daydream believer]

Put the wire in a duct then tape a cord to the wire. lead the cord to a bulkhead & turn it down through a ss ring. In the vertical space place a light bungee or a weight so that as the hatch open the cord pulls the wire into the duct. The bungee needs to be in a place where it can have max stretch so that it is not over stretched at the max & not under stretched at the minimum. That is why you need a cord attached to the electric wire. The duct needs to be big enough to allow the cable to bunch a bit. It might also help to experiment fixing the wire in more than one place with a short thin "offset " cord ( bit like a fly fishermans trace with 3 flies on it) that pulls the wire as well after it has gone so far. That way it goes more evenly into the duct. Once you have it sorted slide the wire into a piece of 38 or 32mm plastic waste pipe for a duct fixed with pipe clips & an elbow at the end where it turns down. You might even have a piece going down & get the whole lot into the pipe so it is all hidden. Depends how long you want to spend fiddling. I think 22mm plastic pipe might be a bit small but if that works it will look much better

 

[Stemar]

A simpler way might be to get some ally angle and build a frame so the hatch can slide under it. Rigid panels are generally far more robust than flexible ones and are significantly cheaper. I believe they're also more efficient.

 

[iamtjc]

I was wondering about the sort of charging connections you get on a stairlift. Just 2 contacts at the bottom of the stairs and 2 at the top. The chair doesn't have to connect at all points, just the 2 extremities where it spends most of its time.
For your boat, 2 springy contacts on the hatch with 2 on the runner in the hatch closed position and 2 more in the hatch open position might do it.
Whether you can fabricate a reliable version for a marine environment I leave to you, but it would give you neater wiring.

 

[ean_p]

Me thinks Mr Stemar has the answer if its possible.......indeed it may with a bit of woodwork actually turn out to be a nice looking 'garage' for your sliding hatch!

 

[Stemar]

Me thinks Mr Stemar has the answer if its possible.......indeed it may with a bit of woodwork actually turn out to be a nice looking 'garage' for your sliding hatch!

Even better!

 

[KevinV]

Thanks for the input chaps - the coachroof (and therefore the hatch) are very curved, so a flat panel would look really odd, but a neat wooden "garage" would work, with a curved panel on top. Certainly makes the wiring neat, simple and reliable and would mean I could use a slightly larger panel. Never been a fan of that kind of hatch, but it would make keeping the leading edge watertight easier too.

I do rather like @iamtjc 's idea though, it would be super neat - I hadn't really considered that it only needed contact when fully open, or fully closed.

The cable chain stuff is cool - might use that idea on something else - I didn't realise it was a thing you can buy

Picture of the boat (before I had her) to give you an idea of what works aesthetically...

 

[thinwater]

If the cable comes through at the mid-point, it will be no-slack either open or closed.

I was lucky; the turtle is stationary (F-24 trimaran, above). As for flex/rigid, rigid is better, and I have rigid on my cat (avitar) but a semi on a rigid surface (your slider) should last pretty well. It is on cloth dodgers, or where they are walked on, that they die fast. On my cat I have big rigid panels on the hard top, not what you need. You just need a little something to keep the battery up.

 

[William_H]

I have found the simplest solution is a solar panel that attaches to the sail cover with straps or bungees and is removed and stowed when I go sailing. Wire just droops through the wash boards to a socket inside. ol'will

 

[steve yates]

I had the same question for my18ft boat and did it like this in the end. I fixed the cable at end of the hatch on each side the left a short loop and drilled it through roughly central on each side, where the cable was crimped and heatshrunk on the other side to the wires from the controller, and then hidden under the roof panels there.
The short loopruns easily, and doesnt really get in the way. When the hatch is open, the cable has enough stiffness that just pushing it behind the seal as the pic shows on the rhs tucks it oout of the way. I do intend to put a small hook on each side front and back where the cable can easily be looped up round it to tidyit away, when hatch is open or closed.

 

[Stemar]

On my boat, I just know somebody would end up grabbing those wires for support

 

[steve yates]

Aye, hence the hooks for them to clip up out of the way to.

 

[KevinV]

On my boat, I just know somebody would end up grabbing those wires for support

On mine it would be me!

I'm now thinking I could combine ideas and double up - have a panel on the garage AND one on the hatch - then I only need a clever connection for when the hatch is closed?