Andrew_Trayfoot
Active member
Am thinking of getting a Solor PV panel to keep the domestic battery topped up on the mooring.
Any recomendations?
Any recomendations?
Small Solor Panel Recomendations Please
- Thread starter Andrew_Trayfoot
- Start date
VicS
Well-known member
Re: Small Solar Panel Recommendations Please
Mine is a 5 watt semi-flexible Spectralite panel . Expensive, I guess at £62, compared with rubbish from ebay but has done the job it was bought for.
Actually pictured in the brochure at https://www.marlec.co.uk/wp-content...Lite-Solar-Brochure-011015.pdf?v=79cba1185463
Mine is a 5 watt semi-flexible Spectralite panel . Expensive, I guess at £62, compared with rubbish from ebay but has done the job it was bought for.
Actually pictured in the brochure at https://www.marlec.co.uk/wp-content...Lite-Solar-Brochure-011015.pdf?v=79cba1185463
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Channel Sailor
Active member
Re: Small Solar Panel Recommendations Please
Or a hard framed device like this:
http://barden-uk.com/product/victron-bluesolar-spp030201200-20w-panel/
I use one of these with an inexpensive charge controller. The panel is put away into the cockpit locker when I leave the mooring.
Or a hard framed device like this:
http://barden-uk.com/product/victron-bluesolar-spp030201200-20w-panel/
I use one of these with an inexpensive charge controller. The panel is put away into the cockpit locker when I leave the mooring.
doug748
Well-known member
I moved onto a marina (without shorepower) last season and replaced my small Aerogen with a Nasa 10w model for about 50 quid. It's small enough to sit on the pushpit where the windgen was and does not get in the way. An adapted camera tripod lets me angle it for best reception.
It's been fine and kept the main battery up last winter as well. With an 120 amp hr battery, I have not bothered with a controller.
It's been fine and kept the main battery up last winter as well. With an 120 amp hr battery, I have not bothered with a controller.
geem
Well-known member
We have had a couple of 20w framed panels off Ebay 7 years ago. They are still going strong. I have them bolted together to give me a 24v panel to keep the engine batteries topped up. At about a £ a watt I cant see the problem with an Ebay panel. The panels look perfect and would expect it to give a few more years of service yet
Boathook
Well-known member
Another for spectralite. I have a couple connected in parallel that seem to work well. I am on my 3rd regulator though, the first 2 being A.N Other brands and the 3rd spectralite.
William_H
Well-known member
I like the cheap 10w or so panels from China via Ebay that are set in a resin base. (no ali frame). I don't think you need semi flexible or anything flash. ol'will
ghostlymoron
Well-known member
I've used several Lensun semi flex panels with a £10 unbranded controller. I find that a semi flex is easier to place and fix and the cheap PMW controller works well. I don't subscribe to the practice of putting your panel away during the heat of the day and prefer to keep it deployed and harvesting the rays at all times.
bluerm166
Well-known member
Yes spectralite are quality panels but have strangely put their prices up over recent years rather than lower them to meet the challenge of the newer manufactures.So the alternatives,seemingly like for like, are approximately half the cost.
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I use a 10W ebay cheapo going strong after 3 years, to maintain engine battery. No need for a controller as panel efficiency will never deliver a sufficient, sustained output in N Europe.
DJE
Well-known member
I installed a 100W semi flexible panel on the cabin top a few years ago for the same purpose. One of the best upgrades I ever made to the boat. My domestic battery bank is 220Ah and it always seems to be full when we get on the boat on a Friday evening. Happy to switch on the fridge without running the engine first. The panel came as a kit including cable and controller from Photonic Universe.
Stemar
Well-known member
I got a couple of 20W panels and a cheapy two battery controller from https://www.sunstore.co.uk/ about 7 years ago. I mounted the panels on a frame over the hatch garage and they've worked well. The controller is set to charge the engine battery first then, when that one burps, it turns its attention to the domestics. I did it that way round because, if things go awry and the engine battery runs low, it's more important to be able to start the engine than have cabin lights. In practice, it means that 99 times out of 100 when I look at the controller, the engine battery is full and it's working on the domestic one. My 40w are enough to keep up with power use at anchor on a 24 ft boat as long as we don't run the cold box, a power-hungry Peltier job, for more than a couple of hours.
On current costs, it would be about £120, including wire and ally angle for the frame. An MPPT controller would be more efficient, but twin battery ones seem to be hard to find, at least at a sensible price. I used two smaller panels rather than one big one because they're under the boom, so the chances are that one will be partly shaded and a pair with one shaded will give more output than a single panel with the same area of shade.
I'm biased against flexible panels as I've seen too many dead ones. They just don't seem to be as robust as the rigid ones, though you can walk on the flexible ones occasionally; you'll only do it once on a rigid one.
On current costs, it would be about £120, including wire and ally angle for the frame. An MPPT controller would be more efficient, but twin battery ones seem to be hard to find, at least at a sensible price. I used two smaller panels rather than one big one because they're under the boom, so the chances are that one will be partly shaded and a pair with one shaded will give more output than a single panel with the same area of shade.
I'm biased against flexible panels as I've seen too many dead ones. They just don't seem to be as robust as the rigid ones, though you can walk on the flexible ones occasionally; you'll only do it once on a rigid one.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I've just bought a couple of Sunbeam Systems panels. I won't install them till the spring, but they look very nice. Semi flexible, tough enough to walk on. A bit expensive here but I was able to save 20% by buying from Germany. The dimensions clinched it for me - I have a hatch garage and coach roof available and the Sunbeams were the only 50W panels which would fit both.
I have a Photonic Universe 50W semi-flexible on there at the moment, plus a cheap eBay one. The PU still works but the covering is milky white and the cheap eBay one (fifty quid) lasted one season.
I have a Photonic Universe 50W semi-flexible on there at the moment, plus a cheap eBay one. The PU still works but the covering is milky white and the cheap eBay one (fifty quid) lasted one season.
coopec
N/A
I'm interested in what everyone has to say as I'm yet to install solar panels on my ketch
A mate has a very small (8" X 8") solar panel hooked up to a computer fan which I was playing with last week. I found two facts:
Am I on the right track?
A mate has a very small (8" X 8") solar panel hooked up to a computer fan which I was playing with last week. I found two facts:
- If I shaded the panel (just slightly) the power dropped to almost zero.
- If I pointed the panel at the sun the fan went berserk but once I angled it at (say) 20 degrees from the sun the fan slowed right down.
Am I on the right track?
martinaskey
Member
30w Victron panel along with basic PWM controller to top up 2 x 110Ah works well for me (mooring in Scotland). Wooden boat so has obligatory leaks and electric pump that runs periodically. No problems so far leaving boat for several weeks even in Scottish summer weather. Bought from midsummerenergy.co.uk who were great.
geem
Well-known member
Hanging off the back of our ketch is the Duogen, the Windpilot and a boarding ladder. No room for solar so we have ours mounted on the top guard wire. We have two 180w panels on each side
PetiteFleur
Well-known member
Photonic Universe are good, either semiflexible or rigid panels - they do complete kits from 10w upwards. Very helpful if you give them a call. I have 110w semiflexible panels on my boat with a dual battery controller. Worked ok this summer on our summer cruise and will probably add another 30 or 40w over winter which will take me to the maximum for the controller.
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
I agree about their helpfulness, and I have the dual battery controller with external meter, which is really nice. However, as I wrote above, my PU panel has gone milky white over the last year. Output seems to be down a bit, which is a shame because it was great when it was new-ish.
My conclusion is that the cheaper semi-flexible panels can work well, as long as you budget to replace them after 1 - 3 seasons. Since the eBay cheapies are typically 1/4 - 1/5 of the price of rugged ones, this might not be a bad deal, but I'm fed up with replacing them so I have gone upmarket.
William_H
Well-known member
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coopec
N/A
That explains a lot William, thank you.
Clive
EDIT
Thinking about it, a fixed solar panel on a yacht is a bit like our panels on the roof-top solar water heaters. We install them facing North with an optimal inclination of 30 degrees off horizontal knowing we we will get very little heating in the morning or afternoon and maximum at Noon.
If we were able to adjust the solar panel on a yacht (say) three time a day that would increase the power output per panel enormously.
Clive
EDIT
Thinking about it, a fixed solar panel on a yacht is a bit like our panels on the roof-top solar water heaters. We install them facing North with an optimal inclination of 30 degrees off horizontal knowing we we will get very little heating in the morning or afternoon and maximum at Noon.
If we were able to adjust the solar panel on a yacht (say) three time a day that would increase the power output per panel enormously.
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