Conference unifix::sailing

    Good topic!!
    
    NicroFico has an exhaust vent with a built-in solar-powered fan. Based
    on what the ads say it might be a serious rival to sliced bread. Has
    anyone had any experience with this? 
    
    I'm also interested in a solar-powered trickle charger.
    
    Ed

  A lot of the catalog houses seem to have trickle chargers for
  batteries powered by solar cells mounted on the deck.  Not sure
  what the amps are, but a good fridge probably draws a bit.
  
  I'd love to get a good charge without runing the damn diesel.
  
  Rick
  

    I considered solar panels last season to keep the battery up.
    
    We typically weekend away (Friday nite - Sunday evening) nearly
    every weekend from May thru October and take a 2 week vacation
    cruise sometime during the summer.    We conserve to some extent
    while on board but, at least over the weekenders dont get too
    carried away.     I calculated our near worst case power consumption
    over a weekend to be about 100 ampere hours - about 1/3 of our
    batteries capacities.   When cruising this goes down a bit - to
    maybe 30-40 per day.   This includes potable water pump, shower
    sump, loran and sailing instruments (usually on all the time), 
    anchor lite, cabin lites, and use of the TV or stereo.
    
    The panels I had looked at were the Telefunken (currently available
    thru Boats US.   I figured I would need panels to recover the 100
    AH used on a weekend over the week.  According to Boat US an average
    10 Watt panel will provide 20-25 AH per week in the northern US
    over the sailing season.  If this were true I would need about 40
    watts in panels to do the job.  The ruggedized 40 Watt Telefunken
    panel sells for $995 in Boat US. Add to that a regulator/isolator
    for another $105 and we are at a neat $1100.  Thats $27.50 per
    watt for those that measure that way.  The economy doesnt change
    much when going up or down from there.   One more thing, the 40
    watt panel measures something like 24" x 90".
    
    Well, I looked at a very good automatic automotive battery charger
    rated at 10 Amps and with automatic trickle and shut off to prevent
    overcharge.  It sold for $49 retail.  Well I decided to give this
    one a try (especially since ADAP put it on sale for $29.95), if
    it didnt work out, at least I could use it to bring the batteries
    up in the spring and on the cars.
    
    Last season, I mounted the unit in out ventilated battery compartment,
    installed an AC outlet nearby and started leaving it on the batteries
    during the week after every other weekend away.  I stopped by a few times
    during the week to see how it was doing at first.  Usually it had
    charged the batteries and shut itself off by Tuesday.  At this point
    I consider this to be the most economical solution for us.
    
    If we ever switch to a mooring I intend to offload some of the battery
    loads (oil cabin and anchor lites) and will consider 20-40 watt
    solar panels for my needs then (hopefully the price will improve in
    the interim).
    
    FYI, these are the power consumption numbers I came up with:
    
    Datamarine Corinthian speed/depth/AWI - 5.9 AH / day
    	(8 hours lighting adds 2.4 AH / day)
    Raytheon 550 Loran C		  - 12 AH / day
    Anchor lite (8 hours)		  - 6 AH / day
    TV/stereo				  - 8 AH / day
    FW pump (.5% duty cycle)		  - 1-2 AH / day
    Shower/drain sump pump		  - 1 AH / day
    Cabin lite (each)			  - .8 AH
    
    The remaining elecrical loads are either only applicable when the
    engine is running (no battery discharge) or highly intermittent
    and not a factor (like the searchlite).
    
    Walt

    Are there any sailors out there that have looked into Solar panels
    recently? How has the price/performance changed since the last reply
    (1986)?
    
     I am seriously considering a small trickle installation for the bilge
    pump battery.
    
     Gregg

    I'm looking for a source to buy a SOLAREX solarpanel.
    
    In Europe, I can get them in every boat shop, but rather expensiv.
    I tried Defender, but they do not answer my FAX. West Marine does not
    sell them.
    
    It has to be a Solarex. It fits on top of the radarantenna. The 
    Siemens panels are to big and to heavy. The flexible type of
    solar panels do not generate sufficent power.
    
    I would need a FAX # . Can you help ?
    
    Thanks,  Peter

    Peter,Boat U.S has the Solarex portable solar panels.Their 24-Hour
    special order Fax is 813-571-4642. Of course as you know you should 
    be a member.Membership here is $17/yr.
    In the catalog it shows three different size panels of  .57 ,1.06, 
    and 1,65 Amps priced accordingly from $ 144.95 to 299.00
    Hope this helps.
    
    Cheers.....Mike K.
                                       

re .5:

Solarex, 630 Solarex Court, Frederick, MD 21701, telephone 301-698-4200

    re 2141.16:
    
    Bob,
    
    I/we bought a Lifesaver 25W panel ($300 from Defender) mostly because
    it does not have an aluminum frame. Rather, it has  a rubber(y) lip
    around it. Rather more friendly if one falls against it. 
    
    For now I've mounted it on the stern pulpit out over the water using
    those quick release plastic brackets available from West and others and
    two wood strips (about 1-1/8 x 3/4 x whatever long). The wire just runs
    under a cockpit locker lid. This winter I'll add a proper waterproof
    connector on deck. 
    
    With this mounted I can either leave the panel installed when we're not
    on the boat or hide it below easily. For now I'm hiding it below since
    I haven't yet built the voltage regulator I've designed and the panel
    has enough output to damage our batteries if they reach full charge.
    
    Eventually I may buy a second panel and mount one on each side of the
    stern pulpit. This way one panel should be in the sun even if the other
    is shaded by the mainsail. Two 25W panel cost more than a single 50W
    panel, but having two panels avoids the shading problem and even if one
    panel fails or is damaged, the other should continue to function.
    Redundancy and all that. I'll build two completely separate regulators
    for the same reason since the parts are cheap. 
    
    Alan
    

    the oct issue of Practial Sailor has a detailed article on the use
    of panels and wind generators.
    
    

re .8:

This past winter I built a simple shunt voltage regulator for our 20 
watt solar panel. A switch selects one of two (adjustable) regulated
voltages -- I use 13.2 and 13.6 volts. 

This summer I've left the solar panel mounted on the stern pulpit. It 
has kept our three batteries fully charged (@13.2 volts) when just 
sailing on weekends. We haven't had to run the engine specifically for 
battery charging at all, which has been really nice.

During our recent vacation in Maine, the solar panel supplied roughly a 
third to a half of our daily electrical needs, though we did have mostly
sunny weather. We needed to run the engine just for battery charging
considerably less than in years past. All in all, I'm most happy with
the solar panel. It has exceeded my expectations. 

I've seen somewhere an electrical hot water heater element for use with 
12 volts. Just the thing for using excess output from a solar panel or 
wind generator.

Alan