Solar power in winter - useless?

[Iliade]

How many watts do you need in summer? In Hampshire, about one seventh of the summer irradiance is available in winter, so just multiply up.

You can buy data for UK locations here, but these are probably sufficient for your needs:

• Solar power in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia
• Solar irradiance - Wikipedia

Note that the difference between the south and north coasts is, in practice, enormous.

I removed my meagre 150W solar panel last winter to avoid damage; early this 'summer' it was ripped off the mountings by a storm. Thankfully no damage except to the very large screws which had been securing it. I expect the wind generator would have been producing a good 5A at the time.

Once you have fitted sufficient solar to live aboard in winter you may then need to revisit your anchor & ground tackle sizing because of the increased windage.

 

[ryanroberts]

I could never keep up fully off grid in winter on solar alone even with a narrowboat roof full of panels

 

[coopec]

Hi Clive My experience of wind turbines is pretty limited largely coming from this forum with the exception of that case described. Perhaps or the OP wind turbine might be useful. However for your lovely new boat no I think a bit of solar would be useful. Then get the boat out and in use. I think you may find solar in our latitude and some engine running will keep you good. Re engine running for battery charge apart from a smart charger the simple way to imoprove productivity of engine charging is with bigger batteries. They will take more current fro longer time so giving more overall energy available even if batteries are not fully charged. Perhaps the wind gen is a status symbol of "world cruiser boat" more than actual charge needed. ol'will

Hi William. I only have a couple of 80W panels on the aft cabin at this stage with a MPPT controller and a Victron battery combiner (VSR). But sometime in the future I'm hoping to add another 4 X 100W(?) panels on the main cabin roof. (I want to see how the experts work out the deck plan for the halyards which are taken back to the cockpit)

I have a 24V 60A Hitachi alternator hooked up to the Perkins 4.108 auxiliary. The house bank is only 2X AGM 135AH (in series) but I have the mounts already installed for another two AGMs.

Today I was working in 36°C (97°F) heat hinging and latching the deck hatches and it's all Go, Go, Go as I'm hoping to launch the yacht next month. I am a little apprehensive right now as I've installed lightning discharge strips and I am hoping the bolt holes won't leak water.☹ (I was heartened yesterday when I read boat surveyor David Pascoe state (in relation to bilge pumps) "All boats either have leaks or will develop leaks in the future")