On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:11:52 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote in
:

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



All the panels are pretty much the same...inefficient, take lots of deck
space to produce any power making them always in the way, and very hard to
place so they get unobstructed sunshine as the boat swings around, either
underway or on the hook. It might keep an unloaded battery bank topped up,
but is a poor choice for powering even the small loads as it is so
intermittent....my point.


It all depends. I have a 45' power boat (a 60 year old nine knotter)
with two 80 watt panels on the cabin roof. They are tied together
through a common regulator and keep my 220 amp.hour house batteries
charged. The house batteries in turn are coupled via a Heart Interface
echo charger to the starting battery to keep it topped up also.

I have a fridge and freezer running permanently (except in the depths
of winter when I turn off the freezer) and usually find that I can sit
on the anchor somewhere for several days before I have to run the
engine.

What I do find is that all the fancy LEDs and coloured lights with
which all the panels and other electrical gizmos are fitted can chew
up 1.5 amps without anything actually being turned on.

Oh - and I have an electric toilet and Electrosan which can hit the
batteries with a fair wallop when I have people on board.



Eric Stevens