What Solar System is Best for Us?

[chuckr]

i can only tell you what works for us -- we have a 40' jeanneau ds -- we have been out 6 years and circum nav the caribbean and just sailed across the atlantic and are currently in the azores

we have 3 kycera panels - 2 130watt and 1 135watt, with one blue sky 3024i controller -- we have a katadyn e80 watermaker and wish we got one one size larger - ours makes 3.5 gal / hr and we run it amost everyday for an hour or so but have lots of water and i forget the amp draw but it is something like 4 amps and we have plenty of power for that - we do wish we had installed one more panel before we left for the med

we know of others who did not get good panels or controller and regretted it and had to go back many times for replacements --

we are happy with ours and they look like new after 5 years of hard use

just our opinion and what works for us
chuck patty and svsoulmates
in angra azores

[Tellie]

First step, and it's free, is to figure out your daily amp budget. Until you have that the rest is silly speculation.

[Zil]

I can only say while solar panels are at an all time low cost, determine your mounting and get as much as you can. Determine you battery bank on your solar posibilities.

[monte]

heres my Lagoon 380 power budget
All works as expected so far, actually we 560w solar and a 60 litre/hr watermaker
I would look at a Spectra 150 WM
MPPT controler is tristar 60
I wouldnt bother with the wind gen initially, it doesnt compare with solar.
power budget

BUDGET 1 - Passagemaking
ITEM Amps/h hours/d Ah/day
fridge 5 10 50
freezer 2.5 5 12.5
water pump 2.5 0.5 1.25
shower pump 5 0.1 0.5
appliance 10 1 10
VHF 1.5 2 3
GPS/plotter 2 24 48
Radar 4 5 20
Autopilot 3 24 72
running lights 0.2 12 2.4
cabin lights 1 6 6
CD/radio 4 4 16
computer 3 6 18
watermaker 2 1 2

total (approx 11amps/hr) 261.65

BUDGET 2 - at anchor
ITEM Amps/h hours/d Ah/day
fridge 5 10 50
freezer 2.5 5 12.5
water pump 2.5 0.5 1.25
shower pump 5 0.1 0.5
appliance 10 1 10
VHF 1.5 2 3
GPS/plotter 2 0 0
Radar 4 0 0
Autopilot 3 0 0
running lights 0.2 12 2.4
cabin lights 1 6 6
CD/radio 4 4 16
computer 3 6 18
watermaker 2 1 2

121.65

CHARGING BUDGET
Solar (600W ) 36 6 216
Wind Generator 2.5 24 60

276

Battery Bank 4/140Ah total 560Ah - total usable 280Ah to 50% capacity
on passage expect full charge at 4pm, using 180amps overnigth till 8am
at anchor solar should easily cover daily needs.
On passage charge can be suplimented using alternators from 50%-80%
should take (30%x560Ah) approx 3 hrs one engine to supply (3 x 40A) 120Ah

[Teknav]

Hi Monte! Very impressive list! The 600 W output...house comfort in your boat? ++

Mauritz

[monte]

actually we have 3/185w panels. They fit nicely on the davits. Also note the WM amps should read more like 40/h and adjust totals accordingly. Generally they put out 30 amps when the sun is shining.

[gspeak]

Danmarc,
We have just mounted solar on our Lagoon 380. Have one Sunpower E20 327W panel on a pivoting frame on the davits & a Tristar 60 MPPT controller.

As we are only currently cruising our local tropical North Queensland waters, island & reef hopping, we find that the one panel is sufficient for now as we don't have a watermaker, air con, microwave etc. We run a Ozefridge & Engel as a freezer, LED TV, all LED lighting, McBook Air, iPad, iPhones, radios, Autopilot etc. Everything is 12 volt powered.

When we eventually "get out of here" I will install another panel on the frame.

The pivoting panel can increase the daily output considerably depending on the sun's direction (up to 50% more).

FYI Here's a few photos of the tilting panel install.













Hope this helps.

Dave
Seabreeze L380 #241

[foggysail]

If you have the real estate, you will get better bank for your buck by spending the difference you will pay for MPPT for an additional panel for most installations

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

The one that the earth is in is kinda cool.

Ha yes agreed!

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by colemj

If you are installing a DC powered watermaker, you will be using a lot of amps, so your power draw will be more than you think.

Mark

Hi, thanks, yes I should've said that I was thinking of a water maker that runs off the engine to top up our water when needed. They are the Yanmar 3YM30's.

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by Teknav

Hi! I suggest: 1) Sunforce 80 Watt Polycrystalline Solar Panel with Regulator and Sharp Module; 2) KATADYN PowerSurvivor 40E Watermaker. Sail away!

Mauritz

Thanks! I'll look into those units.

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by colemj

I just stated why I haven't.

Mark

Thanks Mark, I did put in there that's its a lagoon 380 and just thought that someone out there might have had some experience with the same production cat. It has the standard dingy davits which I was looking to mount the panels over the top of. It seems like the best location. Cheers

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by monte

actually we have 3/185w panels. They fit nicely on the davits. Also note the WM amps should read more like 40/h and adjust totals accordingly. Generally they put out 30 amps when the sun is shining.

Thanks Monte, a great help

[danmarc]

Originally Posted by gspeak

Danmarc,
We have just mounted solar on our Lagoon 380. Have one Sunpower E20 327W panel on a pivoting frame on the davits & a Tristar 60 MPPT controller.

As we are only currently cruising our local tropical North Queensland waters, island & reef hopping, we find that the one panel is sufficient for now as we don't have a watermaker, air con, microwave etc. We run a Ozefridge & Engel as a freezer, LED TV, all LED lighting, McBook Air, iPad, iPhones, radios, Autopilot etc. Everything is 12 volt powered.

When we eventually "get out of here" I will install another panel on the frame.

The pivoting panel can increase the daily output considerably depending on the sun's direction (up to 50% more).

FYI Here's a few photos of the tilting panel install.

Hope this helps.

Dave
Seabreeze L380 #241

Hey Dave, thanks for the photos and input! We are in Western Australia in lovely Broome at the moment heading over to pick up the cat in a few months. Thanks again

[D&D]

Marine solar power is all about 2 things...(1) maximum output per limited footprint and (2) maximum output in less-than-laboratory conditions, e.g. overcast, low sun angles and so on. Sure, it's a good idea to understand your actual power needs -- They will be high with a water maker -- but at the end of the exercise more power is better, from whatever you can fit.

The world leader in efficient panels is the American company, SunPower. When we started looking we assumed the officially rated output was an apples-to-apples measure, but it's not. Rated output is lab conditions...and, in reality, lab conditions rarely exist on a vessel! Happily we found SunPower panels with their high rating AND amazing output under cloudy skies and low sun angles; that's the perfect combination for a vessel.

SunPower proved their mettle at sea when their panels powered Turanor Planetsolar's global circumnavigation on solar power alone, with Nil loss of panel efficiency over the entire voyage. You can read about that voyage at...

http://floatingimpressions.com.au/im...mpressions.pdf

We'll attach some pics of the SunPower panels on our beloved CatNirvana in a separate post.