Solar, Which panels handle the seas?

[mick.j]

hello team.

Well the house battery has died.

So now a rethink.

I run a twin hull alloy cat with hard top

2 hybrid ACDelco start batteries and I Was running a 3rd Gel house battery, now that its died I was thinking of a slight re-design by way of running 2 batteries with a feed in solar panel

this will eliminate the weight of the 3 rd battery and I will be able to bring the start batteries forward to mid ship as well to get weight off the transom.

Moving forward the question is

what solar panels if any will last the pounding of the sea?

the price difference in panels is amazing so the must be a quality to it??.

Who runs solar and for how long has your panel lasted ?

the size ? I only run a sounder and bait pump at this stage.

[ranmar850]

Definitely a difference in quality and price. I bought a cheap flexible--assuming you are only looking at flexible--from ebay, $120 approx for 120W. Worked fine when I installed it on the boat roof, had failed internally by the time I had driven 320k's, last 50 k's on dirt roads. It still looked brand new, I returned it for a refund. There are options out there which they fit to ocean racing yachts like this lot, but over $1000 per panel
https://www.solar4rvs.com.au/solar-p...ian-australia/

then there are a cheaper type which are supposedly designed for campers and off-road, using heavier internal connections blah blah blah.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120W-AllSpark-Flexible-Solar-Panels-Genuine-SUNPOWER-Maxeon-Gen-III-ETFE-Mono/132924737808?
ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m27 49.l2649

The cheapest ones all have PET coverings, whch will degrade quickly in sunlight--I've seen this happen with them mounted on a camper roof, and, even if the internals are still OK, you lose efficiency through the darkening of the external sheathing.
Both of the ones above are meant to have the superior sheathing. I've just bought one of the Allspark 120w jobs, haven't seen it yet, will be going on the roof of the Reefrunner with some expensive double sided tape I also bought before we head out to the Montebellos in May.
You can expect about 6 amps 12v out of 120w, although I have seen 7 amps from a rigid 120 I own. Most fridges run @ around 4.5 amps, so, on a 20% duty cycle, and not too much use of incandescent lights/inverters at night, a 120w panel should see you through a night OK if you have to shut the motor down and rely on the solar during daylight hours. But more is always better--I can only fit a single 120w on my hardtop due to hatches and Rupp top Gun outrigger bases.

[mick.j]

Tahankyou for your efforts Ranmar. it all sounds a little hit and miss, after reading this i might just revisit the 3rd battery

[TheRealAndy]

I got cheap ass panels from bitdeals on ebay. Have 200W rigid panels on the boat and they have been going strong for a good 3 years now. Given my boat goes out in some pretty shit conditions, they are holding up ok. They also quite regularly get drowned in salt water when I take big greenies over the boat.

Only problem is rigid panels have a bit of weight, and all up I reckon I have 30kg on the roof, which is about the same weight as a 120ah battery.

I wont claim they are the best panel in the world, only time will tell that. But given the price I am not complaining.

[scottar]

There aee semi rigids around that are specifically designed for use on boat decks - to the point of being able to be walked on. Fitted some for a client many years ago that held up well for the several years I attended to that vessel. Can't remember the brand though.

[mick.j]

Thanks team I'll look into the semi ridged i think see what they weigh work out how big extra extra
only running a simrad and a couple of bait pumps at most

[Alchemy]

I have a pair of Sharp 130 watt panels on top of my hardtop, 7.5m Origin. They’ll be nine years old in September.

[Out-Station]

Mick, i just went through the solar process, made allot of calls and talked to a heap of suppliers. I ended up with 2 110W pannels supplied by these guys https://www.solar4rvs.com.au/lightweight-solar-panels/earche/ I found the main dude their very helpfull and very knowledgable in the marine solar thing. Weight was an issue for me so i was only looking at flex and semi flex. mine have the coating on them, I mounted them via some high quality double sided vinyl foam tape, essentially a grid pattern betwen cells (with drainage gaps) and double lap on the perimeter, very happy with the result so far and i think this is a really good way to mount the flexi type pannels so as to allow for a bit of movement in the roof and also to get the pannel of the alloy a few mm. My setup is only new but good so far. Got these running into a 40a enerdrive dcdc into a 220AH victron.
Scott

[ranmar850]

Got mine mounted this and working morning, using the high quality double sided tape from solar4rvs as mentioned above by Out-Station. As he said, the tape gives you a small clearance underneath so moisture isn't trapped. I went with the cheaper Allspark panels, still not really cheap at around $300 for 120w, time will tell.