Has anyone had any experience or thoughts on the use of solar power panels? I
understand the technology is improving all the time and we could  well use an
extra little boost. We use, on the average, at anchor, being very
conservative and power wise, about 75 AH's a day. We don't have a freezer or
anything else drawing a lot of power, (except the fridge), and we don't have a
generator. If I could get 5 amps from a solar panel for 10 hours on a sunny
day,
that would give me back 50 AH's...two panels would give me 100 AH's. Note...it
is those nice sunny days when you want to stay an extra day in the anchorage.
Any
comments or advice would be surely welcome.

Thanks,

Tricia and Brian  Jones
RiverWest, Ladner, B.C.

Tricia and Brian,

I'd like to piggy-back on your inquiry as I've been looking for an easy way
to keep the battery in our Zodiac charged without snaking cable all over the
aft deck to reach it.  It occurred to me that a solar panel, perhaps one
attached to the dink's canvas cover might do the trick, but solar power is
so full of urban myths and other conflicting accounts, I'd welcome some
straightforward advice.

Thanks,

Bob Peterson
47' Lien Hwa CMY
"Lopaka Nane"
San Francisco

-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Tricia and Brian Jones
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2004 7:21 PM
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: T&T: Solar Power Panels

Has anyone had any experience or thoughts on the use of solar power panels?

Tricia and Brian  Jones
RiverWest, Ladner, B.C.
Has anyone had any experience or thoughts on the use of solar power panels?
I
understand the technology is improving all the time and we could  well use
an
extra little boost. snip>
_
We have 4.8 KW of panels on our house. Their best day (near Philadelphia,
PA) has been 28 KW Hours. They were very expensive but I was able to get a
grant for 2/3 of the cost. We put them up 10 months ago and so far I sell
more power to the grid than we've used, not much more, but more. Its been a
cool summer so we've not used the A/C at the house very much. In August the
A/C was on for about 10 days and I had to pay $25 for electric. As you
pointed out you need the power when the sun shines.

I have not installed them on the boat yet. It is more difficult to mount the
panels and another power system seems like overkill. I have a gen set and of
course the motors or shore power. Skooch has a canvas covered hard top. If I
add a fiberglass top instead of the canvas I will fit the solar to the top.
Otherwise I cannot get enough panels to make a good dent in Skooch's 150 amp
hour a day consumption.

Skooch Hatteras LRC 42
Worton Creek MD

I've used a single 75 watt Siemens solar panel on Pooh for 7 years.  In
sunny weather, expect 20-25 AH a day (FL and Bahamas, not Maine).  That's
about 1/3 of Pooh's needs at anchor.  You can do a little better with
tiltable panels if you tend them to stay pointed at the sun, but I didn't
bother with it.  A mounting spot with no shadowing from masts, radar, etc.
is very important.  Even 3% shading on single-crystal cells will
dramatically reduce output.  The only needed maintenance is to wipe the dust
off the surface every week  or so with a damp cloth.

Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh
homeport Ortona, FL on the Okeechobee Waterway

For keeping the battery in the dinghy up, you might look to Harbor Freight
Tools.  They sell a small (5 watt?) solar panel in a hard plastic frame for
about $10.  No regulation, but its small size will probably not overcharge a
substantial size 12v battery (auto size, not motorcycle size).  It's
intended to set in the car's windshield to keep the battery from going flat
during outdoor storage.

Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh