What About 'these' Solar Panels ?

[Tropic Cat]

I think on paper you're right. In practice it would depend on which catamaran ... as we all have to be somewhat aesthetically correct.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

I think on paper you're right. In practice it would depend on which catamaran ... as we all have to be somewhat aesthetically correct.

Yes. When the earlier cat designs were envisioned solar panels were not in the frame.

Whilst some of the current racier designs aren't ideal some designers these days have made provision.

Why not consider water catchment and solar panel attachment part of your saloon/bimini design than leave for after market asthetics.

Mono designers should be considering these issues as well.

I would call it good design.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by downunder

If you were setting up a catamaran today and it has room why not put on 1000W of solar. At $1.00 to $1.20 per watt why not- pretty cheap power.

I guess so but I can think of better things for a sailing yacht to spend the money on as 1kw of solar would be way more than my daily needs would be. But others may have much larger power demands if they are running icemakers and watching a lot of TV I guess...

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

I guess so but I can think of better things for a sailing yacht to spend the money on as 1kw of solar would be way more than my daily needs would be. .....

It would allow you to run a freezer mate!!!!! That would not only make long passages more comfortable, you get ice cubes for your sun downers!!

[NorthPacific]

My boat would sink from all the gear!

[SV Demeter]

I can run a freezer and a fridge on my 400 watt setup. They are the bulk of my daily consumption.

[impi]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Good lord how much juice are you using in 24 hours that 675 watts of solar cant keep up and you have to rely on alternators? Im excited about 400 watts based on our daily consumption of 90 amp hours...

We are onboard 24/7 and just don't want to have to think about conserving energy. When the kids visit I make it my mission never to tell them to conserve power ... I want them and visitors to feel like they are at home and make it my mission to continuously learn bout new systems and keep mine updated. Some fellow cruising friends complain because their kids never want to visit ... But then again they expect their kids to live by candle light!

[SV Demeter]

I guess we have a different approach. Our kids are very interested in conserving energy and even my 6 year old knows how to use the victron battery monitor. We have flat panel tvs, laptops, nintendo game system and electric flush heads. Our kids and their friends only live by candle light when they want to but given their interest in conservation and their acute awareness of energy source they will often pick the board game over the Nintendo and choose to read by candle over the LED reading light in their bunk. We are able to comfortably manage our energy use and rarely exceed 100 amp hours in a 24 hr period. So the extra 600-800 that could be spent on more solar panels will be used to buy a kayak. Not knocking your approach just saying ours is different. As always ymmv.

[70AMX]

http://www.solarblvd.com/p2588/Sharp-ND-U230Q1-230W-24V-Solar-Pa

Sharp ND-U230Q1 230W 24V Solar Panel
only $253.00

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by 70AMX

http://www.solarblvd.com/p2588/Sharp-ND-U230Q1-230W-24V-Solar-Pa

Sharp ND-U230Q1 230W 24V Solar Panel
only $253.00

I guess it depends on your boat but for me I dont have the real estate for a 44 lb panel that is 64.6" x 39.10". Generally speaking the larger the panel the lower the price per watt. Mounting panels this size can be a challenge on monohulls. I stuck with 100 watt panels as they were the highest wattage I could find in a 40" x 26" frame size, and they still weigh 20 lbs which makes mounting hardly trivial.

[70AMX]

If you have the real estate, that is a killer price per watt.

[erasmos]

before posting a new thread give a go here

got situation with a older panel thats been oogling me for a few weeks. fits the headline at least!

i got for free 1x older 1st generation 80W AEG, rated 2.5 amps/ 15V. looking immaculate. seems to run fine, delivering 13-14V and 0.8-1.5 amps. exactly what i need to beef up my setup

but when i attach it (w 7 gauge wire) in parallel, or solely (with correct polarity), to my simple sunsei10,000 controller, the controller switches off. why?!!

i live north shore of crete and have already 5x15W 12V flexible panels delivering theoretically 75W, but as the panels have some shock marks from poles (and sit half the day half shaded) I rarely get more than .4 amps out at high noon. sometimes they barely push 0.05 in. i want to get off grid and off harbour asap so its a big thing for me either finding a good used or new

my controller is a crappy little china thing but it seems to handle my flexible panels well. its rated 10Amps/30V (so no problem overload -there's def not too much coming in).

im a newbie to solar (and electronics) to just trying to learn as much as possible about issues surrounding. any help or suggestions much appreciated!

Erasmos

[hellosailor]

"i got for free 1x older 1st generation 80W AEG, rated 2.5 amps/ 15V."
Actually that would be 30W, not 80W.

"Crappy little china thing" If you mean the Sunsei SE CC10000 PWM charger? If it isn't getting enough power in, it probably will switch off.

Test you panel output with a voltmeter under no load, it should say 15V in full sunlight. If it does, then put a small load on it, like a 10-watt or 20-watt tail light or other light borrowed from an auto. If it doesn't light up--your panel isn't putting out power under load.

the good news is, you can still use a dead panel as a trivit in the galley.

[erasmos]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"i got for free 1x older 1st generation 80W AEG, rated 2.5 amps/ 15V."
Actually that would be 30W, not 80W.

ahrem they have the size of a 80W. correct specs Umax=19 and Pmax=50

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Crappy little china thing" If you mean the Sunsei SE CC10000 PWM charger? If it isn't getting enough power in, it probably will switch off.

well yeah! thats what I thought but the AEG trivet panel seems to give more juice than the rest!

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Test you panel output with a voltmeter under no load, it should say 15V in full sunlight. If it does, then put a small load on it, like a 10-watt or 20-watt tail light or other light borrowed from an auto. If it doesn't light up--your panel isn't putting out power under load.

i did and it couldn't light up a 10 or 20W lightbulb - why why? i don't understand how when there's amps and volts

Originally Posted by hellosailor

the good news is, you can still use a dead panel as a trivit in the galley.

almost as good looking as using old scratched cd's as cup trivets! but i will need to trim it a bit..

[hellosailor]

"- why why? i don't understand how when there's amps and volts"

Ah. But that'st the thing, there's volt--but NOT amps. Solar panels will put out less voltage when there's a bigger load on them. A test meter is high mipedance, puts nearly no load on them. Under a real load, the panel will always put out lower voltage. Could be there are cells that overheated and took physical damage, could be there are diodes in the panel that have failed. If you really want to, you can try to unseal it and play Alien Autopsy, see if you can find one more more bad cells and salvage the rest of the panel.