Running on Solar Power

Not too long ago, drinks aboard ship were warm, and unless you caught it and cut it up, food was preserved with salt or canned or both.  Then came small ice-boxes powered by a bank of batteries periodically recharged with an alternator, or if you had the cash, a diesel generator.  A bit of ice.  Cold storage for food.  Life was better.

Now, with a sky full of satellites, we cruise the coast and communicate with the land-lubbers whenever we want.  Why would we do this?  Because sailing isn't always (ever???!!!) cheap.  Given time, UV and salt destroy.  Ropes, wires, pistons, gears, resin, paint and cloth...all must be renewed.  So some of us work.

A laptop burns more energy than a playground of ten year-olds.  Four hours of screen-time, plus running the fridge 'round the clock and we end up with the genset rumbling daily for an hour or two.  And the batteries still drop below 12 all too often.  No Bueno.

So we're preparing to catch the sun.  No kidding...this ain't no half-baked tree hugging fantasy.  The wind blows us to far away places, and soon the sun will keep the beer cold and income possible along the way.  Enough goofy prose.  Let's get to the nitty-gritty of the system we're about to install.  

We're adding four 200W bifacial panels covering 46 square feet.  Bifacial means sunshine soaks in on both sides of the solar panel, and with reflective water all around, that makes sense.   The structure supporting the panels will replace our davits, but we're still gonna hoist our dinghy up in the same place.  A mix of stainless pipe and aluminum channel and beams make all this possible.  If you're curious, I'll share the plans.

I've already added a Victron 150/60 MPPT charge controller, taking advantage of 4/0 wires that once connected a 12V air conditioner. I suppose they'll have little trouble moving 800W.  

Step back a minute and marvel.  A solar power plant.  A wind powered propulsion system.  Lights, navigation, refrigeration, several forms of communication, desalinator, GPS, radar and a shitter.  Our bed is topped with memory foam!  All of this relocates at will to locations where friends are made and the surf sings us to sleep.  The fishing is good too. Here's an evening shot from the marina.