Solar panels

oldbilbo

oldbilbo

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In anticipation of another hefty tax rise on them ( so much for encouraging 'greenery' ), what should I be looking to buy? And where....?

Apropos 'the length of a piece of string', modest sailboat with two battery banks and about 240Ah installed, with LED lighting replaced incandescent just about everywhere, and moored - not pontooned.....
 
I have just recently bought a portable fold up 40w solar panel from maplins (mail order) (My aerogen has become tired and ugly) It was easy to set up and the the charge controller appears to indicate that it is charging well despite the dull weather. It has a good length of cable and fittings. I have only just started using it so I have yet to see the results over lengthy periods away from the boat on its moorings.
It cost under £200 which seems very good compared to wind generator prices.
 
I have a very full inventory of amp swallowing devices.
On the swinging mooring a Rutland 504 would top it up during the week, to allow weekend use, but only just. Other needs were taken care of by motoring upwind.
We bought a 28w flexible panel, and just the solar alone produces all we need from Sunday to Friday when we hop back aboard.Assume of course that the panel would have pretty clear access to sun, and not have a boom ruining the output, of course.
 
If your requirements are simply to top up the batteries whilst you're away, then something like FC's setup will probably do you.

We're hoping to live on the hook through the summer, so have plastered the boat with 300w worth of panels. Two 100w rigids and a 100w semi-flexible atop the bimini.

If you are planning to get some panels, I suggest you get some whilst they're still cheap on eBay. Looks like the prices might be flying up!
 
We've been using a Rutland 503 on a swinging mooring for years and it always had me thinking there was a better way with solar but the prices of flexible panels were just too prohibitive.
This year, having moved to a pontoon but without elec, the wind genny really struggled without clear air to drive it so I took the plunge and bought two of the NASA 20w panels. I chose them because they weren't to big to stow and they appeared robust. I also bought one of those fancy MPPT regulator jobbies from ep solar for about 50 quid. I've never had so many spare amps, wish I'd done it before. They are keeping my 150 amp house and 75 amp starter batteries full.
I don't have a fridge pulling mega amps but we do freely use the eber and various other bits of kit such as radios, instruments, small inverter for mini laptop and chargers for phones etc.
 
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Your link to rentek just had me checking the prices I paid from Sunstore. In February I paid £55.84 for the EP solar tracer 1215, rentek are selling it for £119.99. I've just checked current prices on on Sunstore and it's now £103.50 from them! I hadn't realised prices have been hiked so much!!
 
I bought 2 x 80w ebay specials and cable tied them across our davits.

This year since april 29, living aboard at anchor in the uk in not always the best of weather we have yet to run the generator. Fridge is on always. Lights are all led. But most use is to power the laptop as I work on it most days.

Total cost of installation was something like £300 inc cables and marlec regulator.

Amazed by how well they work.

Alternator has almost never put anything in yet. Thought it was broken. But it regulates when batts above 13.6... which they almost always are.

We have 600ah of batteries operating as a single bank which helps I think. Good capacity to store surpluss when we're getting nearly 12 amps and using only 3 or 4.
 
I bought a couple of 40W rigid panels from Solarventa on eBay and he delivered them to Vigo for around 107 Euro. I think that there were cheaper panels but most suppliers only delivered to UK. He's a German supplier and the panels seem to be fine. Not as solid as my BP panel, but should do the job.

I now have 1x65W BP + 2x40W (all rigid panels) mounted on the coachroof and linked to a Marlec HRDi PWM regulator. Performance has been good so far and they seemed good value at around £45.40 each.

I bought them in UK but used eBay.es as his prices were lower there and I also paid in Euro (Nationwide card) to avoid poor conversion rate on eBay/PayPal. Worked out at £45.40 per 40W panel. Only time I've used this seller but he did deliver on time and I've happy so far.

Performance to date:
57Ah/Day 14/5-19/5
70Ah/Day 20/5-27/5 (Weather improved)

My Rutland 913 continued to give 9Ah/Day and then jumped to 19Ah/Day as it has been windy since 20th. I expect that it will still average out at about 10Ah/Day as per previous seasons.
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-60W-FOLDABLE-FOLDING-SOLAR-PANEL-CHARGER-SYSTEM-FOR-12V-BATTERY-/330931052548?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4d0d072004#ht_2220wt_1398
oldbilbo said:
In anticipation of another hefty tax rise on them ( so much for encouraging 'greenery' ), what should I be looking to buy? And where....?

Apropos 'the length of a piece of string', modest sailboat with two battery banks and about 240Ah installed, with LED lighting replaced incandescent just about everywhere, and moored - not pontooned.....
Click to expand...

I just bought one like this on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-60W-FOLDABLE-FOLDING-SOLAR-PANEL-CHARGER-SYSTEM-FOR-12V-BATTERY-/330931052548?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4d0d072004#ht_2220wt_1398.
It is smart because it can be stowed when sailing. We have not had much clear sunshine in Denmark yet but most of the daytime it provides 1.5 - 2 Amp.
 
Around here the cheapest solar panels are the 180 to 200 watt type made in China for the domestic PV systems. They produce 40 volts no load so you need an MPPT regulator. The down side is that one panel is quite huge but if you can see your way to mount it that would be far cheaper than smaller panels designed for 12v system.
However for all that and especially if you are in UK I would tend to rely on the engine driven alternator for battery recharge especially if you fit a smart charger.
I have relied for 30 years on solar alone on my little boat but that is completely different on swing mooring with no engine charging. (and in Oz summer only) I get away with just 5 watts. good luck olewill
 
JensK said:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-60W-FOLDABLE-FOLDING-SOLAR-PANEL-CHARGER-SYSTEM-FOR-12V-BATTERY-/330931052548?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4d0d072004#ht_2220wt_1398

I just bought one like this on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-60W-FOLDABLE-FOLDING-SOLAR-PANEL-CHARGER-SYSTEM-FOR-12V-BATTERY-/330931052548?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item4d0d072004#ht_2220wt_1398.
It is smart because it can be stowed when sailing. We have not had much clear sunshine in Denmark yet but most of the daytime it provides 1.5 - 2 Amp.
Click to expand...

That looks really quite interesting and a good price too. Thanks for the link.
 
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