The Installation of a Solar Panel Aboard Your Boat
After a recent five-day trip aboard our trawler where we had to constantly power up the generator to provide electrical power to the 115 volt ac freezer to sustain temperatures, I began to consider alternate options. We put over ninety hours on the vessel generator in only five days; time for another oil change! I installed an inverter shortly afterwards and that enhanced the run time for the genset considerably, but there was still work to be done. I still needed to keep the batteries fully charged to run the inverter. Then it occurred to me, why not explore solar panels for use aboard our trawler. Solar panels have been successfully utilized since the mid 1950s, originally utilized in manned space exploration. They have been falling in price since roughly 2004 when their popularity really went up. And now with the Green movement taking place, solar panels are as trendy as always. So I began to delve into them and determine how to purchase and install one; I was in for a shock. You can come across numerous retail suppliers on the internet that will sell you a solar panel but nowhere could I come across a comprehensive explanation of how to decide what to purchase and how to mount it; much less on a yacht. So this commentary was created as I made my way throughout the process; thus is a truly a learn-as-you-go article.
What is a Solar Panel and How Does It Work?
Solar panels are basically any panel that uses the sun's thermal power to produce electrical energy. A solar panel can be described as a photovoltaic panel, the word utilized in the business, for panels designed to make electrical energy from the emission of the sun. In spite of the class of solar panel being mentioned, nearly all solar panels are flat. It is because the face of the panel must be at a ninety degree incline from the sun's rays for the most favorable angle to soak up the sun's emission. Solar panels are able to take in power from the sun through an array of solar cells on their surface. Much like how a plant can absorb energy from the sun for photosynthesis, solar cells work in a comparable manner. As the sun's rays hit the solar cells on a photovoltaic panel, the power is moved to a silicon semiconductor. The power is then changed into (dc) direct current electricity and then run through linking wires to finally go into a storage battery.
Kinds of Solar Panels
Types of panels most normally utilized in yachting uses have either multicrystalline or amorphous thin-film cells. Multicrystalline panels are the oldest technology existing and also the most effective. When sized appropriately and matched to suitable batteries, these are the panels to utilize for operating great loads such as refrigeration. Amorphous thin film solar panels are only about 50% as effectual as multicrystalline panels, but can be bought in supple varieties so they can roll or fold, or correspond to the shape of a vessel cabin top or bimini. They don't often have enough output for large energy replacement, but can be utilized to trickle power a battery bank.
Just how much Energy Can Solar Cells Make?
Normally, we gauge solar panels by wattage and that is how we buy them. You can purchase solar panels for boats as little as 10 watts to as sizeable as 200 watts or even larger. But it is simpler to understand when we convert watts to amperage. We arrive at these numbers by multiplying the quantity of hours the panel spends in complete sun (typically defined as 5 per day in Florida) by the panel's wattage. For a 195 watt solar panel the amount produced would be 195 x 5 hrs = 975 watts/day. We can then figure, 975 watts/12 volts = 81.25 amps per day.
Energy Use
Before you consider what size panel to buy for your vessel, you will want to complete an energy plan to determine what sources of energy consumption you have aboard while anchored up. I make use of the at anchor situation as this is the place you will utilize the most energy; under power and your vessel can provide its needs exclusive of any problems. Example, if you have 3 inside lights that pull 2 amps each and you keep them on for 4 hours each night, your consumption would be 3 x 2 x 4 = 24 AH/Day. We are not concerned with running lights and electronics as they will not likely be running while on the hook.
DC Loads - calculate the amp hours each appliance uses.
House Lighting
Anchor lights
Refrigeration
Freezer
Electric Head
Fresh Water Pump
Sanitation System
Stereo
Other
Inverter Loads
Inverter loads also use DC energy but they are running AC equipment and appliances. If you need to change watts to amps use (12watts/12 volts = 1amp).
Calculate the amp hours each appliance uses.
Computer
Microwave
Refrigeration
Freezer
Heater
Hair Dryer
TV
Other
Determine your overall daily energy use AH/per day.
Solar Energy Production
Different sources of energy similar to solar panels can replace the amp/hrs drawn from the batteries. But similar to the power budget that determined your usage you will also need to determine your re-supply of amp hours. Bear in mind the formula - (12 watts/12 volts = 1 amp). But be mindful, the formula is only a gauge; complete accuracy can only be where the panel production is constant and a solar panel may now and then work inefficiently as a result of shading by clouds. Compare the daily power consumption in AH/Day to the solar energy creation. Your solar energy production ought to be larger than the use. If not, go for a bigger wattage panel and recalculate. Always get more solar panel output than you imagine you will require; some professionals recommend at the least 30% in surplus.
Illustration - 100 watt solar panel/ 12 volts = 8.3 amp x 5 hours = 41.66 AH/Day production
Installing Your Solar Panel
Now that you have your solar panel, where do you put it aboard your trawler? As I said before, putting the panel ninety degrees in the direction of the sun is optimum. You will receive the greatest power creation this way. But on yachts, finding a suitable spot is tough at best. A few boaters put them on brackets positioned on the rails, others put them on top of the bimini, and I have witnessed them placed on the trawler dinghy stanchions. But wherever you choose to mount them, bear in mind that to get the most out of them they ought to be in the open, away from any shading from booms, boat radar arches, or cabin structures. Remember that on the hook, the vessel will turn to the sun two times daily due to the tides. I decided to mount our panel on the top of the vessel sundeck hardtop in a horizontal manner. Here it will get the greatest view of the sun and be away from the radar arch shade as the vessel swings at anchor. The slope to the sun is not right at 90 degrees but it will have to do. I picked a 195 watt panel so I have roughly a 50% reserve ability in my panel to make up for the minor inefficiency of the sun's angle. I bought the panel from Sun Electronics in Miami, sunelec.com because they had the best pricing I could find anywhere on the internet. But bear in mind, panels need to be shipped using freight as they are solidly packed to reduce the chance of breakage so make certain to compute those expenses in your acquisition.
What is the Best Technique to Connect the Panel to your Boat?
There are a variety of manufacturers of solar panel mounting rails and supports but almost all of them are made for roof or ground mounting. West Marine does carry a product for mounting small panels to the rails. A lot of boaters build their own mounts.
I found a mount developed by Sunsei called a Sunsei Glue Mounting Kit that is attached to the yacht and panel using 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive. The mount makes it possible for the panel to be mounted with roughly two inches of space beneath the panel for ventilation. I did not need to drill any holes in the hardtop either. You can locate these mounts at amazon.com.
Wiring Your Panel
Marine electrical wiring is extremely specialized and dangerous; if you are not secure in doing this element of the job, please consult a competent marine electrician. Your panel will be prewired for attaching to your yacht but you will need to supply the linking cables that will also be sold by your panel supplier; they are referred to as MC4 cables. The cables will be made in different lengths suitable for your requirements with a male and female connector attached; you cut one connector off. In addition, you will also require a controller. The controller regulates the power stream from the panel to your batteries keeping your batteries fully charged yet preventing over charging. A number of controllers are simple but others have LED displays showing the amount of charge etc. The more whistles and bells the more expensive it will be. Your panel provider will suggest a controller that will meet your needs. I chose a controller made by Specialty Concepts. It is easy but does the task. And the folks at the business are a big help in assisting you to select the best kind for your panel. When you get in touch with them, they will want to understand what size panel (wattage) you have and what the voltage is. You can find them at specialtyconcepts.com. I also purchased my controller from the individuals at Sun Electronics in Miami.
The associates at Specialty Concepts have also determined how temperature will affect current flow and advocate that their controllers not be placed in engine rooms since the heat produced will decrease the controller efficiency by approximately 25%. I positioned mine in the electrical panel below the lower helm. And lastly, you will require the appropriately sized cables to run from the controller to your batteries and a fuse to connect the controller to the battery bank. In deciding on the right fuse, you will need to find the short circuit current for your panel and pick the breaker at 125% of that number. This will provide you the amperage of the breaker you will need. Your controller operating guidebook will have information on these too.
Owning a solar panel to preserve your batteries would seem like a great idea but you'll need to have a method to keep an eye on your batteries. I chose to also put in a Trimetric 2025RV Battery Monitor; bogartengineering.com. This intelligent device is wired into your battery bank to provide a real time measurement of voltage going in to the bank, amps being used by your boat, the percent complete charge on the bank, and the amp hours utilized since the last charge.
Panel Functionality
So we have now installed a 195 watt solar panel as well as an 1800 watt inverter and a battery bank with 443 amp hours. We ran our tests this week anchored up with sunny skies. I concluded that our power consumption is 112.5 amp hours each day. The freezer alone is the biggest draw using 60 of the amp hours followed by the refrigerator. Did you know that a typical anchor light uses 18 amp hours a night? I think I'll look into LED bulbs now. The battery monitor indicated that our actual draw from the battery bank was only 65 amp hours which indicates we got the remainder from the sunlight, a full 42% was from the sun. Now we will run the generator for around an hour to bring the battery bank up to complete charge.
Mike Dickens, the author, is a live aboard boat owner and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA.
Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide. 904/556-9431
Visit the Paradise Yachts website to view our selection of Used Trawlers and Motor Yachts for Sale
National and international sales. We ship Used Trawlers, Motor Yachts and Cruisers worldwide. Located in Florida, USA. 904/556-9431
What is a Solar Panel and How Does It Work?
Solar panels are basically any panel that uses the sun's thermal power to produce electrical energy. A solar panel can be described as a photovoltaic panel, the word utilized in the business, for panels designed to make electrical energy from the emission of the sun. In spite of the class of solar panel being mentioned, nearly all solar panels are flat. It is because the face of the panel must be at a ninety degree incline from the sun's rays for the most favorable angle to soak up the sun's emission. Solar panels are able to take in power from the sun through an array of solar cells on their surface. Much like how a plant can absorb energy from the sun for photosynthesis, solar cells work in a comparable manner. As the sun's rays hit the solar cells on a photovoltaic panel, the power is moved to a silicon semiconductor. The power is then changed into (dc) direct current electricity and then run through linking wires to finally go into a storage battery.
Kinds of Solar Panels
Types of panels most normally utilized in yachting uses have either multicrystalline or amorphous thin-film cells. Multicrystalline panels are the oldest technology existing and also the most effective. When sized appropriately and matched to suitable batteries, these are the panels to utilize for operating great loads such as refrigeration. Amorphous thin film solar panels are only about 50% as effectual as multicrystalline panels, but can be bought in supple varieties so they can roll or fold, or correspond to the shape of a vessel cabin top or bimini. They don't often have enough output for large energy replacement, but can be utilized to trickle power a battery bank.
Just how much Energy Can Solar Cells Make?
Normally, we gauge solar panels by wattage and that is how we buy them. You can purchase solar panels for boats as little as 10 watts to as sizeable as 200 watts or even larger. But it is simpler to understand when we convert watts to amperage. We arrive at these numbers by multiplying the quantity of hours the panel spends in complete sun (typically defined as 5 per day in Florida) by the panel's wattage. For a 195 watt solar panel the amount produced would be 195 x 5 hrs = 975 watts/day. We can then figure, 975 watts/12 volts = 81.25 amps per day.
Energy Use
Before you consider what size panel to buy for your vessel, you will want to complete an energy plan to determine what sources of energy consumption you have aboard while anchored up. I make use of the at anchor situation as this is the place you will utilize the most energy; under power and your vessel can provide its needs exclusive of any problems. Example, if you have 3 inside lights that pull 2 amps each and you keep them on for 4 hours each night, your consumption would be 3 x 2 x 4 = 24 AH/Day. We are not concerned with running lights and electronics as they will not likely be running while on the hook.
DC Loads - calculate the amp hours each appliance uses.
House Lighting
Anchor lights
Refrigeration
Freezer
Electric Head
Fresh Water Pump
Sanitation System
Stereo
Other
Inverter Loads
Inverter loads also use DC energy but they are running AC equipment and appliances. If you need to change watts to amps use (12watts/12 volts = 1amp).
Calculate the amp hours each appliance uses.
Computer
Microwave
Refrigeration
Freezer
Heater
Hair Dryer
TV
Other
Determine your overall daily energy use AH/per day.
Solar Energy Production
Different sources of energy similar to solar panels can replace the amp/hrs drawn from the batteries. But similar to the power budget that determined your usage you will also need to determine your re-supply of amp hours. Bear in mind the formula - (12 watts/12 volts = 1 amp). But be mindful, the formula is only a gauge; complete accuracy can only be where the panel production is constant and a solar panel may now and then work inefficiently as a result of shading by clouds. Compare the daily power consumption in AH/Day to the solar energy creation. Your solar energy production ought to be larger than the use. If not, go for a bigger wattage panel and recalculate. Always get more solar panel output than you imagine you will require; some professionals recommend at the least 30% in surplus.
Illustration - 100 watt solar panel/ 12 volts = 8.3 amp x 5 hours = 41.66 AH/Day production
Installing Your Solar Panel
Now that you have your solar panel, where do you put it aboard your trawler? As I said before, putting the panel ninety degrees in the direction of the sun is optimum. You will receive the greatest power creation this way. But on yachts, finding a suitable spot is tough at best. A few boaters put them on brackets positioned on the rails, others put them on top of the bimini, and I have witnessed them placed on the trawler dinghy stanchions. But wherever you choose to mount them, bear in mind that to get the most out of them they ought to be in the open, away from any shading from booms, boat radar arches, or cabin structures. Remember that on the hook, the vessel will turn to the sun two times daily due to the tides. I decided to mount our panel on the top of the vessel sundeck hardtop in a horizontal manner. Here it will get the greatest view of the sun and be away from the radar arch shade as the vessel swings at anchor. The slope to the sun is not right at 90 degrees but it will have to do. I picked a 195 watt panel so I have roughly a 50% reserve ability in my panel to make up for the minor inefficiency of the sun's angle. I bought the panel from Sun Electronics in Miami, sunelec.com because they had the best pricing I could find anywhere on the internet. But bear in mind, panels need to be shipped using freight as they are solidly packed to reduce the chance of breakage so make certain to compute those expenses in your acquisition.
What is the Best Technique to Connect the Panel to your Boat?
There are a variety of manufacturers of solar panel mounting rails and supports but almost all of them are made for roof or ground mounting. West Marine does carry a product for mounting small panels to the rails. A lot of boaters build their own mounts.
I found a mount developed by Sunsei called a Sunsei Glue Mounting Kit that is attached to the yacht and panel using 3M 5200 Marine Adhesive. The mount makes it possible for the panel to be mounted with roughly two inches of space beneath the panel for ventilation. I did not need to drill any holes in the hardtop either. You can locate these mounts at amazon.com.
Wiring Your Panel
Marine electrical wiring is extremely specialized and dangerous; if you are not secure in doing this element of the job, please consult a competent marine electrician. Your panel will be prewired for attaching to your yacht but you will need to supply the linking cables that will also be sold by your panel supplier; they are referred to as MC4 cables. The cables will be made in different lengths suitable for your requirements with a male and female connector attached; you cut one connector off. In addition, you will also require a controller. The controller regulates the power stream from the panel to your batteries keeping your batteries fully charged yet preventing over charging. A number of controllers are simple but others have LED displays showing the amount of charge etc. The more whistles and bells the more expensive it will be. Your panel provider will suggest a controller that will meet your needs. I chose a controller made by Specialty Concepts. It is easy but does the task. And the folks at the business are a big help in assisting you to select the best kind for your panel. When you get in touch with them, they will want to understand what size panel (wattage) you have and what the voltage is. You can find them at specialtyconcepts.com. I also purchased my controller from the individuals at Sun Electronics in Miami.
The associates at Specialty Concepts have also determined how temperature will affect current flow and advocate that their controllers not be placed in engine rooms since the heat produced will decrease the controller efficiency by approximately 25%. I positioned mine in the electrical panel below the lower helm. And lastly, you will require the appropriately sized cables to run from the controller to your batteries and a fuse to connect the controller to the battery bank. In deciding on the right fuse, you will need to find the short circuit current for your panel and pick the breaker at 125% of that number. This will provide you the amperage of the breaker you will need. Your controller operating guidebook will have information on these too.
Owning a solar panel to preserve your batteries would seem like a great idea but you'll need to have a method to keep an eye on your batteries. I chose to also put in a Trimetric 2025RV Battery Monitor; bogartengineering.com. This intelligent device is wired into your battery bank to provide a real time measurement of voltage going in to the bank, amps being used by your boat, the percent complete charge on the bank, and the amp hours utilized since the last charge.
Panel Functionality
So we have now installed a 195 watt solar panel as well as an 1800 watt inverter and a battery bank with 443 amp hours. We ran our tests this week anchored up with sunny skies. I concluded that our power consumption is 112.5 amp hours each day. The freezer alone is the biggest draw using 60 of the amp hours followed by the refrigerator. Did you know that a typical anchor light uses 18 amp hours a night? I think I'll look into LED bulbs now. The battery monitor indicated that our actual draw from the battery bank was only 65 amp hours which indicates we got the remainder from the sunlight, a full 42% was from the sun. Now we will run the generator for around an hour to bring the battery bank up to complete charge.
Mike Dickens, the author, is a live aboard boat owner and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA.
Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide. 904/556-9431
Visit the Paradise Yachts website to view our selection of Used Trawlers and Motor Yachts for Sale
National and international sales. We ship Used Trawlers, Motor Yachts and Cruisers worldwide. Located in Florida, USA. 904/556-9431
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