Bimini Solar Panel Mount

B

Bob&Alicia

New member
Does anyone have any experience mounting flexible solar panels directly onto the Bimini? I have searched the forum and can't find any pics or write-ups.

We're thinking about adding a 100 watt flexible solar panel to supplement charging. We have a Yamaha 2000 generator but are also exploring solar.

We have two 12 volt house batteries and would like to keep those charged. Right now we just have the reefer that came with the boat but may repurpose an Engel to add more cold storage and eliminate the need to buy ice for beverages.

We have a Victron power meter.

MPPT vs PWM- I read some on this. PWM sounds much simpler. We want to keep the complications to a minimum.

Thanks
Bob
 
I am in the process to install two 120 Watts flexible panels myself, prices have really come down for all that stuff, panels and regulators. I went with the simpler (and cheaper) 20 Amp regulator, seems to work fine. I kept all the cabling to AWG 10 to minimize voltage drop. I have 2 house batteries as well and a Norcold fridge to feed amps to, we'll see how it all works out in a few weeks in the Sea of Cortez.. I'd like really to keep the Honda 2000 at home.
Alain Provost
CD-25 cruiser
deja la
 
Our buddy Blake, former owner of C-Fury, had solar panels installed in his Bimini top. It was a very nice, professional installation with the Bimini modified so that the solar panels slid in perfectly. They did keep their Bimini up almost 100% of the time however.

If you do a seach in Our C-Dorys, you can look up Blake by user name or C-Fury by vessel name to try and contact Blake. I don't think he frequents the site much since they sold the boat. Hope this helps.
 
Blue Days has a solid 100 watt panel, with a pad under neath it which they can move around, since they have kayaks on the cabin roof.

It is my impression that (depending on ambient temperature) that it may be necessary to have 200 watts to keep one of the chest type running. One of the issues is partial shading of panels, plus the angle of incidence of the sun being less efficient that being able to "track".

We happen to use a Honda EU 1000, with a 30 amp battery charger dedicated to the refer batteries. Also a lot depends on how much output your outboard alternator puts out. If you have 40 amps, and run a few hours a day, that should keep things pretty well topped off, and those days not running the solar, with a clear view of the sky should do fine.

One consideration is that solar does better with an air space under the panel for cooling. The higher the heat, the less efficient the panel is.

To get the most out of your cells, MPPT. But for most simple systems, PWM works fine. I have an MPPT controller and 200 watt panel on my RV.
 
alainP":190303fu said:
we'll see how it all works out in a few weeks in the Sea of Cortez.
Click to expand...

Hijack #2: I'd really like to hear the details on this. It's a 2,000 mile drive for me (Seattle to Loreto), so I'd like to make sure that it's worth it.

Mark
 
Ken: We haven't decided for sure. For work reasons I think I will limit it to FL. We might go from Cape Coral (have friends there and can park the truck) down to the Keys. I think the first year of trying this I need to be a short flight/drive back.

Alain: Do you mind sharing what solar panel setup you went with? I would like to check them out.

Bob: After some more reading Alain might be on a better track with going over 200. I had some price figures from a few years ago and was surprised to see how much more you could get today.

I do think our C-Dory factory Guest charger is not ideal. You have to run the generator for a while to build up the batteries after an overnight. We tend to stay anchored for a day or two and we don't run the motor each day so the generator gets used. I know there are some good threads on battery charger options. I don't know if we should replace the Guest and keep it as a spare or just wait until it dies.

I found a very recent Sailrite Video on how to attach Solar Panels to the Bimini top. Alicia, is literally at sewing class right now but we plan on watching it when she gets home. She is taking a class from a Julliard trained clothes designer. Everybody in the class wants to make dresses etc. We have fender cover and foredeck shade cover material and patterns all over the dining room. I think she gets some weird looks at class when they discuss why they want to learn to sew. Very proud of her progress. We couldn't sew on a button before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_d30fXuwko

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_d30fXuwko]

If the link doesn't work google: Sailrite How to Install a Solar Panel on a Bimini.

So far I am impressed with how they are doing it.
 
I do think our C-Dory factory Guest charger is not ideal. You have to run the generator for a while to build up the batteries after an overnight. We tend to stay anchored for a day or two and we don't run the motor each day so the generator gets used. I know there are some good threads on battery charger options. I don't know if we should replace the Guest and keep it as a spare or just wait until it dies.
Click to expand...

The guest factory chargers are basically top off, or recharge type of chargers overnight on mains power, not geared to heavy use when cruising. We put in a 25 amp Mastervolt as our primary charger for the start and house battery. We have a separate battery for the freezer (all batteries are AGM group 31 from Sams Club), and we are on the 3rd year of usage. They are cycled heavily when in use, and holding up well. For charging the freezer batter, we use one of the West Marine 30 amp "portable" chargers, and run it directly off the generator when staying for a day or so (our 2006 90 hp Honda only puts out 17 amps--part of which is being used for the engine and electronics when under way)--but many days that is all we need to keep the batteries up (using about 3 cu feet of freezer and refer space). The West Marine charger allows a longer bulk phase of charging --we will be at 20 to 30 amps for over an hour and then it begins to taper to the absorption phase. The AGM battery allows faster charging, but we monitor battery temperature manually. I would keep the Guest charger and use it for "mains" charging at home or the dock.

With the guest charger you start out with 5 to 10 amps/bank--and that is max. The charger tapers off to half that fairly quickly--so it takes hours to get the battery fully charged. Even with the larger charger, when pulling heavy loads off the battery, you have to run a long time to get that last 10 to 20% of charge. So you basically cycle between 40 to 50% charge, to 80 to 90% charge. For example still drawing 60 amp hours out of a 120 amp hour battery.

Great Video--with fairly advanced techniques. Some new material and technique--including the "Fabricator Sewing machine"--which is a break thru in light commercial machines, with the full torque, at very low speeds. But not for the beginner unless going into the business. Wonderful story about the sewing class! Hopefully Alicia has a heavy duty machine (Its for the boat!) to handle the heaver fabrics if you begin to to canvas work. It can be a lot of fun, The projects you have started are fantastic places to begin.

In going thru the video, I noted that Shelterite fabric was used for the "frame"--
There is a great PDF onSailrite Outdoor Fabric Selection guide Well worth looking at for those who want to learn about various types of marine fabrics. Then go to the PDF for each fabric specs to learn more about them and applications.

The amount of power used by refrigeration units varies a great deal with ambient temperatures, and the amount of power produced by the solar panels varies with the amount of sunlit. Hotter in S. Florida or Az desert, but full sun; PNW cool, but more often cloudy...Often these balance out.
 
Bob & Alicia, I bought the 2 panels on Amazon (where else??) from an outfit called "Discount On-Line Solar Sales, LLC", I paid $154 a piece last January, free shipping. Now, i just checked to see if they were still selling the same panels at the same price and guess what.."not available at this time". But, still on Amazon, an other outfit called "Solar Cinergy" sells the very same exact panels for $172, shipping included. The name of the panels is " DOLSS 120watt 12volt Flexible-Bendable Solar Panel"

Bob, Thataway. You are right about the trade off in climate! Also, as summer rolls around in the SW and Mx. it does get hot but you sure get a lot of sun directly overhead or close to, good for solar! I hope to pull in 10 to 12 amps around mid-days
Alain
 
Foggy":15inpfvj said:
Bob & Alicia,

You may find the following link helpful for mounting your flexible solar panels on
canvas.

https://www.bruceschwab.com/uploads/sol ... elines.pdf

Aye.
Click to expand...

Lots of great information on the Bruce Schwab web site also, all of which should be required reading for anyone putting in solar and alternate energy on a boat. Interesting that he suggest Bimini panels should be run athwart's ship, and SailRite fore and aft. Lots of choices...
 
We now have a heavy duty sewing machine. Alicia has a new sewing instructor (closer to our age) and she shared what we're doing and the instructor mentioned she was about to list her Janome HD1000 on Craiglist so Alicia bought it for $150. I wanted some fleece covers for the "over the road" big yellow tie down straps just to protect the finish. I just wrap fleece and ziptie it. I wanted a "sleeve" that the strap goes through. Man that machine sewed through that strap like it was gauze.

So the project is on....we're going to make some solar panel mounts. I do like the panels that Alain found on Amazon. I will research a little more on how much they can be bent to help with fore/aft or athwart ship mounting. I seem to think Sailrite it correct on the sagging. I need to reinstall the Bimini and see. The two 120's seem to be a good choice.

As if I didn't have enough to do after Bob's post on the Mastervolt I went and studied our log. I keep a log of the generator hours and amp hours. If we draw the batteries down 30ish amps over the course of the day/night it will take hours for the Guest to get us back to 100%. We tend to run the generator while we're working to keep the laptops and AC going. I would like a quicker charge. More research in the future on this one....

I'll try to get some pictures posted as we go along as well. Thanks again everybody for the help and feedback!
 
I have ordered 240 watts of solar panels by Solar Cynergy Flexible Bendable 120 Watt 12 Volt Solar Panel for the Bimini top but need to decide on a MPPT charge controller. I have two that I like. One is by Outback the Smart Harvest 20 amp MPPT and the other is a Victron 75/15 MPPT with Bluetooth dongle to get data, firmware upgrades and control the panel.

The two main differences are one is 20 amp and the other 15. The other difference is the Outback has a wired temperature sensor you run back to the battery compartment and attach to the battery. The Victron is an ambient temperature sensor and does not have a remote option. My plan is to mount them in the hot water cabinet.

I called Victron and spoke to a factory rep. His advice was to put the controller close to the batteries. I explained the aft battery compartment can be damp. I could mount the unit as high as possible by epoxying a mounting board. The unit is small in size. I try to keep that area as dry as possible but it still gets wet. I asked how much temperature difference between the ambient air around the charger vs the batteries and he said I should stay at 20 degrees or less difference. Heat is the issue not cold. He said if the batteries get hot and the air inside the water heater cabinet is >20 degrees cooler I could push more voltage to the battery than what is optimal. He said this would be in the 10th or 100th of a volt.

I was impressed with Victron because I could actually talk to someone and they're know for the marine environment. I also like the smaller size and the monitoring dongle. Both will run around $140.

What would you guys do?
 
For your two 120W panels, I'd get the Genasun GV-10 MPPT controllers, one for
each panel. No remote read dongle but easy LED reads on the controller for
charging status. If you like to see numbers in volts and amps for panel output,
look at the Watt Wizard.

If you parallel the panel outputs after the controllers and put the Wizard in line,
you'll get the combined V and Amp output if you are charging one bank. This
may be less bread than the Victron/Dongle combo but then you won't be able
to fuss with your smartphone as much.

And, yes, sun is free but the harvesting gadgets are not.

Aye.

https://www.bruceschwab.com/genasun-gv-10-12v-mppt/
 
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