On Aug 17, 2020, at 8:56 PM, Alan Johnson <alanwilliamjohnson@...> wrote:



Solar!!

I have had solar since 2004.  First setup had 325 watts that ran my refrigeration as long as I did not have two more than two cloudy days.  I should also mention that I have six 6 volt batteries as a house bank.  I later upgraded to 540 watts and this will handle three cloudy days.  Even on cloudy days you will make up amps.  If you were able to support a heavy dingy, you should have no problem with your solar panels.  Even though I can theoretically make over 30 amps, I have installed a 30 amp MPPT charge controller that does the job.  You always have some amperage in the battery that regulates the amperage going into your batteries.  

Alan J  S/V Skol #130

On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 9:24 PM Fritz Feiten <fritz.feiten@...> wrote:

I have a very sturdy arch on my 1997 400
that has the radar mounted on it and was designed to support a fancy and very heavy rigid inflatable that I’ve replaced with a smaller and much lighter alternative powered by a Torqueedo electric motor.

I’m looking at modifying the arch slightly to support the installation of two 300 watt solar panels that are roughly 66” x 40” and weigh 40 pounds each. I could go with 180 watt panels that are 60” x 27” and 27 pounds, but the larger area and greater weight seem like a fair trade off for the additional watts — perhaps needed to keep the beer cold in a flat orientation in the Pacific NW.

Wondering if anyone has dome something similar and if anyone has any suggestions or cautions.

Fritz

Fritz Feiten
206-914-6899
fritz.feiten@...