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Old 28-06-2011, 11:43   #1
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540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

Is this overkill?

540 W OF SOLAR PANELS ON TITLING FRAME SYSTEM ( CUSTOM MADE) up to 36 amps per hour
OUTBACK FLEXMAX 80 amp SOLAR CONTROLLER
4 RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS WITH SEPARATE CONTROLLERS ( 2 x RUTLAND 514 - 2 X RUTLAND 913 ) ON CUSTOM FRAME
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Old 28-06-2011, 11:48   #2
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

I would have put the wind gens higher. Overkill? It depends on your power requirements. Only you can answer that!

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Old 28-06-2011, 11:48   #3
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

It is overkill if you are the typical cruiser who uses 100 amphours every 24 hours while on the hook. Also those wind generators need some significant wind to put out anything reasonable- 15 kts or more. But some places in the Carribean get that kind of wind in the anchorage.

But maybe you use a lot of power?

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Old 28-06-2011, 12:15   #4
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

That walk-in freezer was perhaps overkill...particularly beside the electric sauna.
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Old 28-06-2011, 12:34   #5
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

Quote:
Originally Posted by twinkles View Post
Is this overkill?

540 W OF SOLAR PANELS ON TITLING FRAME SYSTEM ( CUSTOM MADE) up to 36 amps per hour
OUTBACK FLEXMAX 80 amp SOLAR CONTROLLER
4 RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS WITH SEPARATE CONTROLLERS ( 2 x RUTLAND 514 - 2 X RUTLAND 913 ) ON CUSTOM FRAME
Those wind generators look dangerously low to me.

Granted the 514's have the ring, so the tips are not exposed... but what a meat grinder that set up could be!

Not sure why so many amps would be needed (air conditioning? Electric drive?) but whatever you do you might want to look at putting those wind generators up higher.
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Old 28-06-2011, 12:41   #6
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

Looks like more than 540 watts to me. Those look like 135 watt panels at 26" x 60". If so thats more like 675 watts. I say whoa! If you have the real estate for it and the wallet why not! Kids can probably both play x-box 360 in their cabins all day of 46" plasma TVs and never have to be bothered with any of that boring cruising stuff...

Wheres the 12 volt air conditioning thread?
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Old 28-06-2011, 13:24   #7
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

And just in case it isn''t obvious, the solar cells tilt forward and backward to follow the sun.

I have just restarted looking at the pretty pictures trying to get a feel for value.

I never saw anything like this before...and the boat doesn't even have airconditioning.

Here is another view of the array.
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Old 28-06-2011, 13:57   #8
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

I probably would have opted for higher output wind turbines and fewer of them. One on each side perhaps. It also looks to me like the wind turbines are mounted such that they will get air flow interference from the panels, especially when tilted and each other. Wind turbines should have as little turbulent air going into them as possible. While this is often difficult on a boat, this installation appears not to have considered this requirement at all. This is likely to be very hard on the moving compnents, especially blades and bearing. My guess is that these turbines will have a much shorter life than one would normally expect, not to mention lower power output.
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Old 28-06-2011, 14:01   #9
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

Looking at the second picture, I see the wind generators do not look to be mounted as low as it seemed...

... still not sure that is the set up I would choose..

(the Rutland 514s seem like an especially strange addition to me)
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Old 28-06-2011, 14:19   #10
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

Are the wind and solar controllers going to different battery banks?.
I was led to believe that if they went to the same battery bank, one system would fool the other, ie in bright sun with a breeze, the solars would be putting 14+ volts to the batteries, the wind controller senses this, and puts all the charge from the wind geny's to the dump resistors
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Old 28-06-2011, 14:44   #11
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Re: 540 W SOLAR PANELS AND 4 X RUTLAND WIND GENERATORS

I don't know anything about this boat other than what is in the ad. Even were I beyond the "wish book stage" this would not be a boat I would be interested in because it is a 4 cabin model without many of the toys I have in mind. I have no doubt spent at least a couple hundred hours reading boat ads and never saw anything like this before.

I was just wondering whether this was a set up I should be lusting after.
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