Solar at Anchor

[theDangerz]

Wow, that’s a lot of solar to be struggling.
We do pretty well with less (though always want more).

Most important question might be, where’s “here”.
If your in higher latitudes or the Pacific Northwest you’ll struggle all winter if the panels are installed flat.

Might be worth mounting panels in a way that allows you to tilt them to a more beneficial aspect to match the low sun angle?

[Bluechart]

I think the only way to get maximum output from our solar panels, is to have them articulating, so you can follow the sun to keep the panels perpendicular to the sun, from sunrise to sunset.

I have 2-135w panels, which generally provide 100% of our daily needs, with fridge set at 38f and freezer at 22f, inverter for 110v needs, etc. generally no need to run the getset.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Boats/Soi...MG_9193-X4.jpg

[hpeer]

I did jot read carefully through the above thread.

As noted above Sean is incredibly talented and also incredibly frugal. Which is the first point, reduce usage as much as possible. That is the surest most cost effective, lowest maintenance option.

Then things get very boat and configuration and season specific. Our 2 panels are in parallel with separate controllers and home runs. We also have a wind generator. It is quite old but very, very similar to a D400.

We have 630 watts in 2 panels. The radar was shading the panels, I made a custom bracket arm to reduce shading by moving the radar.

When in the Caribbean the wind is from the East, which puts the sun in the starboard side. Unfortunately my wind generator is on the starboard side also and shades the starboard panel several hours a day. But in the NC sounds or Chesapeake to wind is predominately from a Westerly direction, and the generator does not shade the panels.

In the Carib the wind gen contributes a lot, in the Chessie not so much so I am OK with this compromise.

In the Carib we often go months with out using a generator, it is only if we have a few cloudy light wind days do the batteries get low. By far our biggest drain, at anchor, is the fridge. When moving it is different, then with all the electronics running we have to run the gen or engine occasionally.

My Wife had an older windows laptop with a fairly huge screen, that thing SUCKED amps like crazy. A new smaller laptop cured that. We have no TV or other entertainment devices beyond iPhones. We cook with kero so dont need elctricity for the solenoid. No hot water. Etc. Still not as frugal as Sean.

[Thumbs Up]

I got better performance after I reconfigured my two large panels to parallel. I think it depends on how many internal bypass diodes your panels have. I don't think mine have any. These large panels are mostly made for grid tie applications where partial shading is not an issue. If you have 12 volt type panels (up to 18 volts I think), paralleling may negate some advantages of the mppt type controllers. My system has trouble maintaining absorption voltages past mid afternoon but can still produce more total watt hours per day than if in series unless I have ideal conditions. My panels are fixed mounted but due to the camber of my roof they face slightly different directions. It is rare for one of them not to have a partial shadow across it. I had meant to buy a different brand panel but ended up with one of the more generic brands. They also seem to be waning in their power output as the years tick by (10 years now). If I cool my panels (they get very hot in the sun) I get more amps. I notice this when washing the boat. There are times when I need to lash the boom to one side to get less shading. Also optimizing the time of day that the generator is run to take advantage of the high acceptance rate is crucial. Early morning is probably best. Vary the time according to the weather forecast for the day.

[Nepidae]

The first comment is that you are on a sailboat which has a tremendous amount of stuff to block the panels.

Second, not sure how old your panels are. Newer panels will capture more sunlight.

Third, you didn't mention what controller you might have, that would have an impact as well.

We have 3-220W Xantrex Max Flex panels, installed last summer, and a Victron MPPT 150/60 solar controller sitting on the Hard to Top bridge roof and in the last (0800 to 1400) we have generated over 1.5kWh with still plenty of sunlight left in the day.

All the items I mentioned can have an impact, plus wiring, batt capacity and more.

Good luck, hope you can get your issues straightened out.

[tomtriad]

You should calculate how many amphours each of your devices consumes and eliminate the biggest power hogs. Eat the contents of one freezer and one fridge and turn them off. Turn your computer(s) on only when you needed. Washing machine - really? Don't use it when it's not sunny. Separate MPPT controller for each panel. Get a wind bugger.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by UFO

I have 1KW of Solar, but I am getting minimal power of of it, due to the prevailing winds putting the panels in the worst possible place - It is also winter here which does not help.



I could swing the boat around and stick out a stern anchor, but that is not always feasible - I was just wondering how those living at anchor survive when this happens day after day?


I have been running the generator a lot longer than I want to.

Following the sound advice of a CF member, I've hinged my panels.

The results speak for themselves, the photo of the two ammeters shows the efficiency gain obtained by tilting just one panel of the bimini bank. Both panel banks are the same, 380 Watts per bank, 760 in total for those that don't love maths. Panels are still putting out over 100 % rated capacity in perfect condition (very rare) but down here at 42 degrees south I am thankful for whatever I can get.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Can't see him doing that. What with all that mining and destruction of Australia's deserts for the lithium. Then carted off to some sweatshop in China to be made in to LFP, just so some decadent yachtie in a first world country can have ice in their gin

I think Sean is more likely a Baghdad battery person, sort of strips of lead and copper immersed in lemon juice and charged by trailing and a home made prop connected to a old dynamo

Pete

Do you know how much desert there is in Australia, you can probably fit all of Europe into them two or three times over. A few square miles of lithium mines is not even a flee bite on the butt of an elephant.

[Mr B]

My panels are hinged in the middle, Makes it easier to tilt in less room,

[skipgundlach]

I feel for you.

Here in SE Florida USA, the sun is essentially vertical at noon.

In the equinox, it happened to be a clear day, and I snapped a pic of my 50A flowing in.

In the summer, with the constant thunderstorms, it's rarely a sunny day, and we are lucky to see 10A when it's not raining. OT but the same is true for our wind generation.

As a result we run a Honda 2200i about every other day, and despite it being 870AH (4 x L16H-AC Trojans), frequently find ourselves down 50%...

If we had the room, I'd mount another KW or so (current 720W):
Pictures: Flying Pig 2015-2018 Shake-and-Break-Down/Electrical Upgrade

[hpeer]

Skip,

You just need to go 1,000 miles ESE and all your problems go away.

[r2sail]

Think outside of the box

[Rohan]

Originally Posted by UFO

I have 1KW of Solar, but I am getting minimal power of of it, due to the prevailing winds putting the panels in the worst possible place - It is also winter here which does not help.

I can't believe no one has suggested the most obvious solution in that situation. Buy a wind generator to supplement your power.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Rohan

I can't believe no one has suggested the most obvious solution in that situation. Buy a wind generator to supplement your power.

Unfortunately, since they need to buck the battery voltage, wind generators tend to only work well in places where the wind blows at a fairly strong and consistent speed and then one has the problem of irate neighbors.

[cuthbert]

Originally Posted by r2sail

Think outside of the boxAttachment 241654

That is really clever. I haven't seen anything like that before. How does it compare to the flatter panel in the foreground?