The pic above is Dutchess with her solar panels. Kyocera 130's - three of them should give us around 22 - 25 amps per hour during the hours that full sun is bearing down on them. It is interesting that even a cloud going by will drop it to 10 amps or less. It will get like 4 to 6 if it is raining and kinda bright outside.
This means that we don't have to crank up the engines and run them for hours to charge the batteries up or go to the marinas and pay $100 - 200 a day to be able to hook up to shore power to get them charged back up. The only time we will have to do it, is if it is raining and overcast a lot and the amps going in during the day, do no equal what we are using during the day. We have the fridge, lights, fans, bilge, fresh water and shower pumps, the gas valve and instruments that all need electricity each day. Add to that, the laptop, the cell phones, rechargeable batteries, maybe the tall fan (haven’t tried it on the inverter yet). For those that don’t know, an inverter is a little device which plugs into the cigarette lighter and will convert your battery’s 12 volt power to 110 volt so you can charge things like your laptop or power other small devices. Not only can they be used in the boat, but you can use them in your car on long trips.
If we find that we don’t have enough energy with the solar panels, we can get a wind driven power generator, but it is going to have to be really quiet so as not to disturb me or the other folks at an anchorage or a marina. I can hear one right now. Bbbrrr, bbbbbbrrrrrrrrrr, brrrrrrrr, bbrrrrrrr Some sound like a plane with turbo props like the sea planes around here are about to take off . Or a helicopter is coming in for landing. I don’t know how they can stand it when I am not sitting on their boat but across the water away from them and it is making me crazy. But it is only a short drive for me to be crazy especially as repetitive noises as such just get on my last gay nerve!
I can’t wait to see how well the panels will work. The hardware was about $1,600 and the same to install, ship and deliver. I am not sure how long it will take to recoup the cost, but just not having to listen to or smell the engines was enough benefit for me. I am not sure how we would compute wear and tear on the engine, but that has to be a fair amount.
The only draw back is that they are mounted on the hard top bimini and that reduces the places we have to walk up there and deal with the boom , lazy jack, various reefing lines, sail cover with PITA zipper, and not to mention the main sail. Now if it is calm as can be out there, it will be no problem, but on a windy day, it will be interesting, to say the least. The solar cells are covered in glass. Now who’s bright idea was that? How about plexiglass or some other indestructible covering that I can step on and not break the first month we have them? I just don’t understand some people. It’s not like these are not to be put on sailboats or anything. What about hail storms or those birds that pick up shells and drop them on hard stuff to break them open?
If they become a problem up there, then we will have to have a custom stainless steel thing built that will go over the davits (which at the arms off the back of the boat that hold up the dingy, Duke, out of the water).
B.O.A.T. B.O.A.T. B.O.A.T. ::sigh::
Here are the pics showing one panel on the right side since there is a sliding hatch over the helm so the one sitting at the wheel can open it to get sun burnt or leave it shut to see through the window so they can tell what is going on with the main sail and the wind. Then the left side has two panels. We need to get the sail up and the traveler moved around and make sure the lines do not get caught on the panels and snatch them off. Maybe we should adhere some flotation device on the backs of them so we can recover them if they go in the drink. They could sell that as a safety device, eh? Nah, they want you to buy a new one for about $400 each instead.



This is our American Flag that is attached to the topping lift, the line that hold up the back of the boom which is attached to the top of the mast. The country of the boat is displayed back here and then a courtesy flag of the country you are visiting is flown up front off the speaders that are attached to the mast. Then the other side, depending where you are visiting is left for what is called the “Q” flag. It is short for Quarantine and means that you are new to the country and are waiting for the plethora of government officials to come board your boat. Usually immigration, customs, the military or coast guard and sometimes the health department to make sure you are not bringing sickness, illegal plants or food or animals aboard. That flag stays up there and you stay in your boat til they come to inspect you, your boat and your papers. There are a whole set of letters and numbers that are each represented by a flag so like in racing they are used to signify groups to start racing, to come to the committee boat for course changes, and such things that need to be communicated. Or when you are bored while lost at sea with a bag of flags, you can try to spell something and hang from a palm tree on a deserted island. LOL

Are all of you non-sailors learning something? :O)
Until next time....