Vlog 15: Solar Flair
Once the Spring arrives and I go out continuous cruising on the canals, I will need a way to generate electricity. Ideally this would be done without running the engine. Hence the installation of solar panels.
I chose 2 x 240W panels from Panasonic (model number VBHN240SJ25 if you’re curious) because they’re only 80cm wide which gives me extra walking space either side on the roof. This is the video of that installation.
Woooohoooooo!!! Necroposting!!
So my RV…..6x200w panels feeding 2x300ah LiPo batteries. It looks like you’ve got AGM batteries? Does the boating community over there use LiPo (or more accurately LiFePO4) over there?
My old batteries were AGM, yes. I have recently changed them for lead-carbon (see vlog 178). Some boaters do use Lithium but they’re very expensive, need special battery management systems, different (or reconfigured) charge controllers and don’t like being cold when charging which can mean having to relocate them from the engine bay on a boat to somewhere warmer. All in all, quite the nuisance in my opinion.
Very informative amp/hour explanation and I like how you saved enough room on top, to easily walk past the Solar Panels. That’s thinking ahead. Well done David.
:-)
Excellent looking installation. Looking for something similar myself, and as my boat is in the same area as yours, would be interested to know who the installer is, and your supplier of ‘bits’ as I too want 800 wide panels.
Tyke
I bought the bits from Midsummer Energy. The installer is Simon Pollard.