Solar Panel search / Needle in a haystack

[Divecoz]

One man may never find that needle but 50 could find it in a day...
Dollar for dollar watt for watt Who sells the best solar panel.
I have been looking and there are a Brazillion sites to check. Panel can be up to 30 inches in length and up to 19 inches in width.

There is a comparison to be had I believe.
$1000.00 buys you a pretty decent size, excellent quality portable gen-set. less buys less its all up to you.
a. where do you store it when your sailing and when your gone.
b. its noisy and you don't need hard feelings among fellow boaters.
What will that same $1000 buy you in solar panels and a regulator etc.

[James V]

There is 2 really good brands and only 2 now. I have the one that starts with a K, don't remeber the name. I bought them in Marathon Fl and had bags made to put them in. ther up at anchor and bleow when under way. I move them where the sun is.

Bought with a solar regulator for about $ 600 + the connectors for the inside.

[Moe]

Kyocera is one of the most popular, well-respected, and reasonably-priced brands. IMO, an arch off the stern would be the place to put one.

[kmclemore]

I have a Kyocera 40W panel, but I must admit it's not mounted in the most efficient manner - it's on top of the slider, supported on short nylon bushings so it gets ventilation underneath to keep it cool. Ideally, like Moe suggests, it's best to place it where you can tilt it to the best position as the sun and boat move about. All the same, it puts out enough to almost keep up with our fridge. I also agree with Moe in that the Kyocera are the best in terms of efficiency as well as rigidity and construction. I have it running through a Morningstar controller to prevent backflow from the batteries into the cell as well as to provide a pulsed charge to the batteries to reduce sulphation.

[Divecoz]

Kyocera is one of the most popular, well-respected, and reasonably-priced brands. IMO, an arch off the stern would be the place to put one.

I will look up that brand Name and start shopping for price.
Another thought:
Moe and others either have them or suggest them on an arch off the transom... I was thinking bow placement as that is a place I never go or at least not much. . .Hang down from the railing's during transit and swivel to a horizontal plane + or - when at anchor/berth.
Pros and Cons????

[Chinook]

Bow mount raises concerns in my mind. Interference with docking, anchoring and setting preventers, fouling sheets while tacking, exposure to seas and spray when water is rough, as well as pounding when motoring in rough seas. Sliding hatch or arch mount seems like the best ways to go.

[March]

Yep, kyocera gives you more bang for the buck--their prices are amongs the lowest. Reliable, too.

I opted for Uni-solar because of their ability to extract juice even if they're partially shaded. They're more expensive but the panel is on its fourth year and still going stong. It is mounted above the engine and it can pivot some, so I can catch full sunshine in a variety of conditions.-- except, of course, when the boat is perpendicular to the path of the sun.

[Moe]

If trailering with bow rail mounted panels folded down vertically, I'd want to cover them with plexiglas rock guards. Most travel trailer front windows have those, or fiberglass or metal ones. I'd also be afraid of stuffing them into a wave eventually, especially considering heel, or that my foresail might get snagged on the hardware. I'd also think one of the two would often be shadowed by the foresail.

[ned miller]

We have a Kyocera 60 Watt (cost was around $300) and it's wired through Morningstar Sun Saver 6 Controller (cost was around $50). I also have it mounted on the slider and it takes up the entire top of it. It's not the best mounting place because of shading by the sails, but it is a good spot because it doesn't get in the way at all. The slider has two cleats on the front and one on the back and the solar panel has two small bungees on the front and one on the back that just pop over the cleats. It is wired with a plug in and we just unplug and pull the bungees off and store the panel in the cabin while towing. It takes less than a minute to remove or mount. We pull the boat out every time so we leave the panel at home unless we are going for more than a couple days.

[Night Sailor]

I've used the Kyocera panels for almost 10 years now and have been completely happy with them. Two 120w panels on the travel trailer, and two 50w panels on the X. I used Morningstar SunSaver 20 amp regulators on both to allow for future expansion if desired.

I placed my two panels on a stern arch I fabricated myself from s.s. tubing parts. This included pivoting and tilting mounts for the panels. I mounted the backstay on the arch in the midpoint so I could use two panels for redundancy. This meast size was limited and still stay within the dimensions of the hull for safety while docking or rafting.

My 50w Kyoceras are about 21x26 inches as I recall.

I have dealt with two vendors over the years and been very happy with the prices and customer service and shipping. They are:
1. Northern Arizona Wind and Power. Lowest consistent prices, with many years of experience and friendly people. Extensive parts catalog of things that work for boat or RV. Shop at their online store at: http://store.solar-electric.com/index.html

2. Backwoods Solar. Their prices are higher but they have excellent service and extensive knowledge.
www.backwoodssolar.com

One thing: find what you need and get it while it's available. World wide demand is such that the factory only makes certain sizes on certain months and vendors can run out of the smaller and medium sized units before being resupplied.

[Gazmn]

While Kyocera is already mentioned; I'm waiting to put on a Unisolar 62 or 64 watt and controller.
I keep an eye on them on Ebay. They claim to have better efficiency in cloudy or occluded light and There Is No Glass.

Another one I'm looking at is this one

It's more expensive per watt, but very tough

-Gaz

[Boblee]

Ours are called BP solar and probably locally made but if it helps this is where we mounted them for maximum efficiency.
http://macgregorsailors.com/cgi-bin/mod ... record=856