Roger ,, go to the Pearson Vanguard Group on Yahoo Groups.

There is a sailor/Captain over there, named David Heilman, who uses solar.
He has two high output solar panels.
And he really burns up the juice. He has stereo, tv, vcr, you name it and
with his solar setup.. power to burn.

For the good solar panels, it is costly. The following is from an email
David sent me back in the fall.



"We had 1 85watt panel on "On Location" I got it on clearance from
Alternative engery sources on the web. The panel cost $695 which was a $150
savings. I am going to put two 130 watt panels on our Easterly 38 and those
panels are coming from Mr Solar and will cost $900 each and the two
controllers will bring the total cost to about $2,000. In my humble opinion
good solar panels and controllers will run around $1,000 ea, keeping in mind
we are on a ball, are not bashfull about running electronics, only use the
engine to get out and back and enjoy time on the boat even if we do not
sail. Not quite liveaboards yet but close."

Here is another email from Captain Heilman.

"Not sure how much help I can be but will try. I did a lot of research 3
years ago when we went onto the ball. Got real confused with all the
formulas also. What I did find was this, the only panels that are worth a
damm are the rigid expensive ones, the thin flexablie ones that are easy to
mount are not worth the trouble, you need at least 40 watts for each 12 volt
deep cycle battery. On the Vanguard we had two house batteries so I bought
one 85watt panel. On the Easterly I have installed four house batteries and
will have two 130 watt panels. A good panel, that means expensive, will
generate power on a slightly overcast day, you must have a charge controller
both to prevent overcharging of the batteries and to stop the panel from
drawing power back out of the batteries at night. Do not cheap out here
either. Mount the panels as high as practical and watch for things that will
cast a shadow on them. Like a flag from the backstay. This may seem like a
minor thing but keep them clean!

We used this formula for three years on our mooring, and even if we spent
several days on the boat without using the iron genny never ran out of
power.

Hope this helps.

Dave"

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If you are a reader of DIY magazine, Captain Heilman's Vanguard was featured
in one issue as David and his wife restored her. He has since sold her and
moved to a bigger boat.

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"Roger Long" wrote in message news:
I knew that there is no way solar would keep up with my cruising loads.
Cruising in Maine, where the wind usually doesn't come up unitl noon,
usually involves enough motoring to keep the batteries charged. It's the
periods when we're not cruising and just daysailing that I'm concerned
about.

I won't be running the anchor light on the mooring and I just bought one
of the new low draw LED units anyway. My old one was a combination
bow/mast light with two bulbs and was a real hog but it was the only one I
could get when I found that the original was toast the day before the mast
was to go up. The only daysailing draw will be the GPS, radio which I
seldom transmit on (for which I have been already soundly berated on this
group), instruments, and a bit of fresh water pumping.

I also don't expect to keep up entirely with the loads. It's more a
matter of balancing the cost of a modest solar rig against the extension
of battery life and capacity. Maybe just buying new batteries every 2 -
3 years makes more sense. I get my AGM's cheap enough from a non-marine
source that a set every year would just be a blip in the cost of boat
ownership.

Wind is the way to go but location and foundation support are an issue on
my boat.

I'd still like to know if there is a panel that you think makes sense for
this application.

--
Roger Long