Solar Panels on s/v Sea Glass #68

[James Scherzi]

Hi Everyone,

This spring I installed 2 125W flexible solar panels on our bimini.  I purchased these from Brue Schwab, Inc. who is located in Maine. http://www.bruceschwab.com/  What I liked about dealing with Bruce is that he is the one that actually picks up the phone when you call.  We talked about my 24 hour usage and he came up with the panel combinations for me.  I did this last fall, so I just sent the bimini to Bruce and he made sure the units fit and he even had his canvas people sew zippers into my bimini and then they added them to the panels.  What I liked about these panels is that they are flexible and only weigh about 5 pounds each.  In the spring I attached my bimini to the boat and zipped in the panels.  It was pretty easy.  The whole project came to a little over 2K.  We sail in the Thousand Islands and do a great deal of anchoring.  We just spent 5 days on the hook and when we got ready to leave and come back home, our batteries were fully charged.  The 3 things that I noticed that put a strain on our batteries at anchor are the refer, the electric toilet and my wash down pump. Our refer runs constantly on Sea Glass (5 minutes on and 5 minutes off and stays at about 32 degrees or lower no matter where I put the thermostat).  I talked to the manufacturer and they told me I had a bad thermostat.  I purchased a digital thermostat from them, but I haven’t installed it yet.  I am still looking for the refer compressor to wire the new thermostat in (any help would be appreciated).    None the less, the solar panels kept the batteries up even with the refer issue.  It will only get better after I replace the thermostat.  On our C320 Kea, we use to burn about 40-45 amp hours per 24 hours.  On Sea Glass we use 65-75 per 24 hours and the stock alternator just couldn’t bring the batteries back after 2 days at anchor.  These solar panels appear to put back about 12-13 amps per hour on a sunny day.  5-6 hours of the good old sun and I am fully charged.  BTW – I also installed a 120W Balmar smart Alternator before I installed the solar panels although knowing now what the solar panels can do the alternator may have been a little over kill. I have attached 2 pictures of the solar panels on Sea Glass.  

Jim Scherzi 

s/v Sea Glass #68

[Jon Vez]

Great looking installation Jim! Curious as to how you wired it and where you put the controller? I'm in the process of adding a dedicated space to move all of my electrical connections (will post when I'm done) with the solar panel installation in mind:

As for the compressor, it is located under the fridge on the outboard side. I believe you need to remove the fridge to access it. Check with Ed Walters as he removed his Fridge and can give you some advice I'm sure.

Jon
Sent from my iPad

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<Sea Glass Solar Panels.jpg>

<Solar Panels Closeup.jpg>

[d.k.ward]

The last Catalina magazine had a good article on a 42 foot boat that was being used extensively for cruising and had a timer rigged for the refrigeration to save power yet maintain the cooling level.

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[David Everett]

Jim,
Thinking of doing exactly the same. Curious to know how the wiring was routed to interior of boat.
David
("Tiarnie", South Australia)

[James Scherzi]

David,

I can take more detailed images of the system and give you an idea of how I did it.  I did drill a hole through the hull near the top of the port stern and in the area where I drilled there was 2 layers of fiberglass that overlap and it was almost one inch think.

This may take me a little while, as we are going on holiday this weekend and will return on 7/29. 

Jim

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