435W solar panels on Lagoon 450

[bill good]

MarkV Sunpower has just honoured 2 replacement panels I purchased in 2007 & insisted on fitting to my boat no charge. If I can recommend to you I would use the mounting hardware that is used to install the panels normally but anodize the alumimium rails. The expected output will be less than the full specs as the panels are lying flat so work on 70%. Also you can preset the max current the controller can put out at any current you want to limit the system to from the menu. Mine are 40V panels wired series.

Regards Bill

[markv]

@bill good - I wish I could buy Sunpower Panels normally in Europe, but not having any luck at the moment. Tried Sunpower in UK, France, USA and not much forthcoming, as you are supposed to go through an installer for house installs..they don't really sell a few panels to stick on the back of a boat yourself.. I am having a real problem finding someone to ship the 435W panels from the USA, so I might have to settle for 6 x 330W BenQ Panels which use the Sunpower cells, and fit the size I want (1559x1046). The panel frames are already anodized, and we will fit them on a SS steel array on the back...
Using the Flex Max 80 MPPTs, I will be able to set the max charge at 13.8A for the Lithium Ion Batteries being installed. Cannot wire the panels in series tho, since voltage max is 150 for the regulators, so have to put 3 panels in parallel...but that setup will give me 1980W of power...even at 70% output, no need for a genset.

[monte]

mark, Im in La Rochelle now and believe I can buy sunpower 345W panels here, 650 each HT, or 335W 580 each HT. Ill confirm when 'IF' I hear back from the company.
Im thinking of putting 3 on the davits although its a little bigger than id prefer. Probably 3 of the smaller 250W ppanels would be enough , or maybe change one for a 335 and use the victron 70A controller
Other option is a controller for each panel, not too sure how that handles things like equalization though. Last cat we had 3/180w 24V panels into a morningstar 60A controller into 12V system, but I dont recall ever seeing more than 30A going into the batteries, although the panels should have been putting in 3x180 / 12 = 45 A...
any ideas on individual controllers for each panel, is that simple enough at the battery end? I guess you disable equalization on 2 of the controllers? or do they have manual equalization modes so you can just press a button...

[F51]

Originally Posted by markv

To power the batteries, we are adding 4 x Sunpower 435W solar panels to give us total of 1740W @ 20% efficiency. The size of each panel is 2067mm x 1046mm x 50mm and each weighs 26kg. @ Flex Max 80 controllers (one for each pair in series), 1 Mate 3 and 1 HUB, all from Outback.

Do you have the model number for the 435w Sunpower panels? I looked on their site and could not find anything bigger than the x-345 panels.

[monte]

I think he meant 4 / 335W panels. It seems they keep managing to add more watts/panel. I have seen sunpower sizes ranging from 327, 335, 345

[mcarling]

The 435W Sunpower panels are model number: SPR-435NE-WHT-D

[monte]

FYI
les modules ne sont pas en stock chez nous, je n'ai qu'un délais approximatif du fournisseur 4 - 6 semaines qui ne s'engage qu'une fois la commande passée
SPR-E20-327 = 514,50 € HT
SPR-X21-335 = 583,50 € HT
SPR-X21-345 = 636,00 € HT

Bonne réception,


http://intis.solarlog-eklor.fr/

[Randus]

Hi, how did your install go and do you still have some panels for sale? I am in Hawaii and have a project where I could use one and might be interested in some more for a good price. Thank you

[sailormed]

I bought 2 Sunpower panels 327W E20 from Waassolar in Belgium a couple of weeks ago. No problem, only high transport costs to the south of France.

[markv]

The install was fine, done over a year ago now..the yacht is now in Philippines and we have had no problems at all with the setup. Currently we generate around 600 to 700 amps per day..and the 2kw array also acts as shade, the frame as a place to hang rods and fish tails a place to do pull ups for exercise, and a rainwater collector using a channel to feed both tanks if needed. No extra panels leftover, we ordered 325W panels from BenQ in Germany which uses sun power cells.