Solar Energy Articles

How To Install Solar Panel on a Boat?

Installing a solar panel on a boat requires a little modifications in the design of the panel holder and once installed takes a very little expense for maintenance. This type of boat requires almost no power from the engine motor and zero air and water pollution. What more could one ask?

If you are going to install a solar panel on your boat all by yourself, the first thing you need to know is the type of panel you will require. The mono crystal solar panels are the ones that give the optimum efficiency and are best if your region receives maximum sunlight. An alternate to the monocrystal solar panel is the polycrystal. The main difference between them is that their solar disks made with crystals of many crystals. Due to this reason their surfaces have a reduced ability to absorb maximum light, which slightly reduces the power output than the mono crystal solar panels. The advantage on other hand is that they are available cheap which makes a favorable option since it cuts also down the budget.

A slightly less power output for a significant reduction in the budget, is a trade off which is beneficial. If you do not like either of them, there’s also a third option available, it is the amorphous solar panel, and they are much more efficient than the crystalline. The manufacturing method is quite different from the traditional method of panel manufacturing, plus they are cheaper than the crystalline solar panels and also have the a shade resistant technology.

After you decide which one suit you better, you can now start thinking about where you would place them on the boat. An ideal place of installing a solar panel is on the cabin rooftop as it is exposed to maximum sunlight. However it is preferred that you install the panel quite high from the boat so that it is exposed to more sunlight and it reduces the chances of being overshadowed. The major challenge is to find out where to install a solar panel is where you can get the maximum output. The only way you can get the maximum output out of your solar panel is when the sun rays fall perpendicular to the surface of the solar panel. The common locations apart from the cabin roof are the biminis and radar arches.

The next step after the mounting is the wiring. The wiring basically just requires making some primary connections i.e. merely connecting the positive terminal of the solar panel to the positive end of the battery and the negative terminal to the negative end. If your solar panel is not having a maximum current output of more than one percent of the battery capacity, then regulation is usually not necessary in those panels. What is applicable to such solar panels is a simple fuse near the battery. The main reason why you require the fuse is to prevent your battery from short circuiting and avoiding the chances of starting a fire in the process. If the fuse is not used near the battery, the wiring to the battery is a like a short.

If you are using multiple batteries, you can store them in banks. These banks can then be connected to solar panels dedicated for each banks. It is however recommended that if you want to have a single solar panel connected to number of battery banks, the size of your single solar panel should be equivalent to the total battery capacity. It is also recommended that you insert a schottky diode in the positive legs so that either one of batteries remain unaffected by the other.

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