Looking to upgrade our solar with either an arch or adding hard panels as the new 500SE has over the sliding windows. Does anyone have designs for an arch or suggestions on if it is necessary if you add the hard panels? We currently have 6 solara-soft panels.
If so, does anyone have someone they would recommend for the install on the east coast of the US?
Thanks!
Here is the design document that I produced for our build. This was fabricated and fitted by Bruce at Botany Appliances in Knysna. It was a great collaboration between us, KYC and Bruce - it worked out really well.
We achieved 4 x 530W bifacial panels + the 2 x 400W (no semi-flexibles). We are essentially independent on solar only (no genset). The dinghy lift has been fantastic.
#97 Tourterelles Solar Arch.docx (2.4 MB)
And some photos of the finished arch
Very helpful!! Thanks so much for the detailed doc as well. Will keep everyone posted on how it progresses.
We are using Ianâs doc for a build in Trinidad this summer alsođ
Scott also asked âDoes the 2200 W arch with the additional 800 watt panels on the deck provide all the power you need not to run the generator? Or even enough to run an AC unit during the day??â
The answer as with so many things that are part of the power equation is âit dependsâŚâ
It depends mainly on how much sun you get and how much power you use - and different boats use different amounts - and then you have location and weatherâŚ
For us the solar panels will normally generate all the power we need - we do not have a generator on board (we do have powerful secondary 24v alternators). We boil kettles, cook on electric, make water, run the washing machine and generally donât worry about power usage. We donât always get back to âfloatâ every day but that is where the reserve in the battery bank helps (24kwh lithium).
It is rare that we have to run the engines just to charge the batteries (a few cloudy days).
The two 110A/24v alternators can produce over 5.5kw of charge current - Iâm very happy not to have a generator with all its spares/servicing/weight/space and fuel costs.
We donât normally run a/c at all - occasionally we might run it in dehumidify just before bedtime. We prefer to have hatches open and airflow rather than being cooped up inside. Our âtreatâ when we have excess power is normally to put the water heater on and have hot showers.
It has to be said that latitude does have an effect on solar production - but so does temperature of the panels, how high the sun is in the sky etc. We live in the tropics full time aboard Tourterelles.
We do get a âboostâ from the bi-facial panels (they are 530W on the main face). The most power I have ever seen them produce is 749W each! Cool panels and fierce sunâŚ
Note : Tourterelles is currently in the midst of an electrics refit after which we will have 2 x 130A/24v alternators and 30kwh of battery capacity.
For those of you that are interested here are some numbers I gathered a little while back - primarily to work out how much power we used at sea and at anchor.
At that time it was 16.4kwh at sea and 12.9kwh at anchor.
Figures are taken from the Victron MPPTâs.
Note pMax is a maximum for the day in watts (not a full day average).
Firstly at sea.
Then at anchor in Suriname.
but note that we were in a muddy river in Suriname so could not make water during the period (so also did not use the washing machine).
In both of these data sets the engines were not run at all and all power came from the solar array.
Thanks Tourterelles,
for all this detailed information!
It is really giving a very good overview of your system which seems to be effective and which I do find optically appealing - especially with the bifacial panels.
We do have a manual crane installed on Bahati which is lifting the tender and swinging it onto two resting brackets at the back. I assume the height of the crane would be able to swing below your solar array frame.
Some questions:
Did you install the brackets and systems at the beginning while the boat was being built or is it a retrofit?
What if your solar panels need to be (partially) replaced? Is your mounting design catering for a scenario when you might have to install slightly different sized panels?
As we have an existing setup at the back, I would try to modify your design to match our existing frames and setup. In addition to the pictures and documents on this post would you be able to share the CAD files so that I could check and compare dimensions?
In order not to temper with the existing stainless steel tubes I am thinking about designing a new set of brackets which could be attached with stainless stell clamps similar to the clamps next to the Weber grill in the picture.
Would you be able to share a rough cost overview of the components to estimate the whole investment?
Thank you very much for your support.
In order to
To answer those questionsâŚ
Yes the arch was designed in from new - but officially an after-market item.
No I havenât added specific features to allow panels to be changed - it fell into the âtoo many unknownsâ category - but it would be great if feasible. I did design in some (5-10mm) gaps around the panel but that didnât happen when they built it - so they are quite tight. That will be a separate challenge if and when the time comes.
I will try to find the CAD files and send you a link separately.
If you are not going to implement a dinghy lift then I think you may be able to use brackets - and you could certainly lighten the structure.
Our approximate costs are below.
Notably the four solar panels were just about the cheapest component of the whole setup.
