Howard, That idea is both clever and cost effective. I found one web site that said by purchasing individual cells you could save roughly half the cost of a solar panel. Of course, they sold the individual cells. A quick check of the prices at West Marine confirmed the claim. steve Steve R. M-15 #119 Lexington, KY ************************************************ Here is a wild idea for a solar setup. I got the idea after seeing the solar cars the college kids build. Essentially, the idea is to turn the hatch cover into a solar collector. You buy the cells and glue them to the hatch cover. It takes a certain number of cells of a certain size to get the charging voltage where you want it to be. They are then covered by Lexan so they don't get damaged. Out of the way and always on. Howard
Howard, Steve, Sorry to butt in here..... Another Option is to buy the laminar Photovoltaics. & attach it to the hatch. No risk of breakage but the Lexan would keep it from being scratched, right? (Grandkids & all?) fyi - They show it can be mounted on a roof (nail right through it-no problem) It is also used in the field packs can be folded like a table cloth then opened in the field (to operate your laptop, etc.). I considered having a table cloth sized piece over the boom while in harbor. go to www.globalsolar.com for more info if you haven't seen it. Fair Winds, Gordon Coba' Scotts Valley, CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve R." <stever707@mail.saabnet.com> To: <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Thursday, August 18, 2005 11:47 AM Subject: M_Boats: re: M17 solar panel & battery
Howard,
That idea is both clever and cost effective.
I found one web site that said by purchasing individual cells you could save roughly half the cost of a solar panel. Of course, they sold the individual cells. A quick check of the prices at West Marine confirmed the claim.
steve
Steve R. M-15 #119 Lexington, KY
************************************************
Here is a wild idea for a solar setup. I got the idea after seeing the solar cars the college kids build. Essentially, the idea is to turn the hatch cover into a solar collector. You buy the cells and glue them to the hatch cover. It takes a certain number of cells of a certain size to get the charging voltage where you want it to be. They are then covered by Lexan so they don't get damaged. Out of the way and always on.
Howard
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
Essentially, the idea is to turn the hatch cover into a solar collector. Out of the way and always on.
Howard
I guess I'm feeling chatty lately :-) I'll just toss in a comment about the hatch cover location (assuming you mean the companionway hatch), which is to not forget that many panels don't work if they're partially shaded (depends on the type). I've cruised on two different boats, both of which had one solar panel. On the first boat it was mounted simply to the stern rail, and was almost always in the sun and working - albeit not as well as it might have if we'd rotated it or something, but pretty darned well. On the second the panel was mounted to the top of the dodger. Aesthetically, this was great as it didn't really show, and functionally it was out of the way. But so many times it didn't give us any charging even when the sun was out! Sailing, the boom or sail would nearly always shade it; at anchor we'd have to pull the main boom way out to one side and even then if the boat swung it would be shaded. You'd also have to step over the vang/preventer tackle that was holding it over if you happened to be going forward on that side. It was easy to pick out our boat in a crowded anchorage though, with that big chicken wing sticking out to one side :-) If I were mounting a panel (unless it were the flexible type that doesn't get bothered as much by shading - and if I had that kind I'd probably keep it portable - strap it to top of sailcover at anchor, etc.), I probably wouldn't choose the hatch cover/dodger top again, FWIW. --- Rachel
My hatch cover idea came from the solar cars, in which the entire skin of the car is a solar collector. Converting that idea to a boat would mean making the skin of the boat a collector. But...it also turns out those individual cells are somewhat fragile, so you gotta watch where you put them. The most out of the way, safe place I could think of was the top of the hatch cover. BUT....if it stays shaded by the main and/or it's cover....why bother having it? Option B might be the forward vent...as I never walk on that....but it gets bumped at times by jib sheets, lines, etc. Certainly more traffic than the hatch cover. As for the other options (flexibles, etc.), yes they work, but they are something that has to be handled and stored. I was hoping for the always there, always on option. Guess it's always something? Perhaps I should take the easy route. When I need juice...I tie up to a Marina and plug the charger in. Not a bad system when you think about it. The battery tends to give out about the same time as the ice and beer. Howard On 8/18/05 2:15 PM, "Rachel" <penokee@cheqnet.net> wrote:
Essentially, the idea is to turn the hatch cover into a solar collector. Out of the way and always on.
Howard
I guess I'm feeling chatty lately :-) I'll just toss in a comment about the hatch cover location (assuming you mean the companionway hatch), which is to not forget that many panels don't work if they're partially shaded (depends on the type). I've cruised on two different boats, both of which had one solar panel. On the first boat it was mounted simply to the stern rail, and was almost always in the sun and working - albeit not as well as it might have if we'd rotated it or something, but pretty darned well.
On the second the panel was mounted to the top of the dodger. Aesthetically, this was great as it didn't really show, and functionally it was out of the way. But so many times it didn't give us any charging even when the sun was out! Sailing, the boom or sail would nearly always shade it; at anchor we'd have to pull the main boom way out to one side and even then if the boat swung it would be shaded. You'd also have to step over the vang/preventer tackle that was holding it over if you happened to be going forward on that side. It was easy to pick out our boat in a crowded anchorage though, with that big chicken wing sticking out to one side :-)
If I were mounting a panel (unless it were the flexible type that doesn't get bothered as much by shading - and if I had that kind I'd probably keep it portable - strap it to top of sailcover at anchor, etc.), I probably wouldn't choose the hatch cover/dodger top again, FWIW.
--- Rachel
_______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
participants (4)
-
Gordon Allgrove -
Howard Audsley -
Rachel -
Steve R.