The boat came with 2 installed panels on the dodger and a 2 extras but it’s time for an overhaul and more opportunities for watts from that golden orb. We have loved being able to fold back the bimini whenever we want to see the sails while driving so we’re keeping that clear of panels. Somebody has been doing lots of researching and planning:
This is ALL Greg’s work. He’s been studying and calculating solar systems for a long time now and I think we’re getting close. The action on this is really happening because the Starlink Starmount needs a place to live that’s not in the way of future panels. He’s measured all the surfaces many times and been totally lost in thought about the “ideal system”. I snuck the above photo of what may be the or close to the final plan and some of the brochures he’s been going through.
We’re not planning on being big energy hogs, we don’t have a huge demand now and no plans to install big amp consumers… except the Starlink? But the Starmount system switched it to DC, so maybe that’s okay. We just need to run the auto pilot, fridge, freezer, water maker, and other instruments as needed.
…
Update time! Greg got the new panels and controllers installed before we left and we were blissfully free from running the engine other than when we wanted to go somewhere all trip long. All the Victron controllers are installed under the aft center settee seat in Greg’s very organized sort of way with tidy wire runs up to the panels. I’ll have to add a photo of that later.
The new panels give us almost 1200 watts of solar, some panels are in series and others are in parallel to optimize solar yield. It’s nice that we can swing the boom so far one way or the other and we will often switch it mid-day. Other panel details are that they are semi-rigid and nicely textured so we can walk on them if need be but we won’t make a habit of it. They pretty much lay flat on the deck so the view out from under the dodger is great and there’s nothing to accidentally stub toes on. Two sides of each panel slide into little rails that aren’t installed yet in these photos. If we want or need to they can slide in and out easily.
Tom Trimmer from Custom Marine Products gave us AMAZING first rate customer service, he went above and beyond many times to help us get this project done. Thanks Tom!