I have saved more than $6000 in gas costs so far as a result of using
solar to
power the entire boat. The key to good solar is to set the panels in an area that is free of shadows for at least five hours a day. I swing the boat at
anchor using a
bridle from the
rode to a midships
winch to move the shadow of shrouds,
mast etc away from the panels. For ten years I have run everything on solar exclusively. I have 24 AMPS at 14.2 Volts on a sunny day. I use a TRACE 40AMP three stage
regulator with temperature compensation. The batteries are 6V 220AH Trojan T 150 (4 of them), which gives me >400 AH of
storage capacity. Each day I put into the batteries about 120AH, which means I can take no more than 100 AH/ Day out of the batteries. To keep the
consumption down I use
LED lights for NAV and
Interior, Engel
low power freezer/fridge, etc. One panel is dedicated to NAV equipment, 7 to lights and house.
It is essential to use a solar
regulator that has adjustable three stage regulation or temperature compensation or both, otherwise the batteries will dry up when you are off the boat.
I also can run a microwave, a/c for an hour or so, TV,
Computers,
SSB,
SAtellite communications. I use a TRACE 1500W
inverter.
Wiring from the panels is 6GA for about 8 feet round trip into a 30A breaker before the regulator and 4GA from the regulator to the
battery via a 60A breaker near the
battery. The reason for the large gauge wires is to prevent a fire from
overheating of wires. Also the ABYC standards call for 6GA solar wires (i think).
For a
photo of the
Solar panels go to
www.waeshael.com and click on the sailing link.
Hope this helps.