1. main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io

Re: Stainless steel arch Canaries

karkauai
 

Hi Mohammad,
I put 600W of hard panels on my arch, and 250W soft panels on my cockpit enclosure. The soft ones are mounted aft of the boom, but still contribute only 7% of my total solar charging experience. When at anchor I swing the boom off to the side, but still don't see significant output.  There's almost always a shadow from a shroud or mast on one of the panels. I have both of the panels on the same controller, I would probably get better output if they were on separate controllers.

As currently configured, the soft panels aren't worth the money and effort. The hard panels on the arch are great.

Kent and Iris
SM 243
Kristy

On Jul 16, 2020 10:56 AM, Mohammad Shirloo <mshirloo@...> wrote:

Hi Paul;

 

Can you please share your experience with your installation on your bimini top? This is the location we are looking at for our solar panels, but are concerned about the shadow effect of the boom and sails on power generation. The following are relevant to our design and would appreciate some information about your installation:

 

  1. What manufacturer and type of solar did you use?
  2. How many panels and what is the total rated wattage?
  3. How much is your daily average amp hour production on a normal day.
  4. How many solar controllers ?
  5. Parallel or series connection of the panels?

 

We are trying to decide whether to go with a soft or hardtop for the panels. Any issues with your installation or anything you would do different? If you have some pictures, that would help.

 

Happy Sailing;

 

 

Mohammad and Aty

B&B Kokomo

AMEL 54 #099

 

From: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io> On Behalf Of Paul Stascavage via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2020 6:22 AM
To: main@amelyachtowners.groups.io
Subject: Re: [AmelYachtOwners] Stainless steel arch Canaries

 

Andy,

 

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the group. You will find a wealth of information and help here from some very knowledgeable and like minded sailors. 

 

I was given some very good advice when we first purchased our SM and that was to wait at least a year before making any changes to the original design/systems. We waited at least two years and I am glad we did. 

 

Likewise I wanted to add solar when we purchased but I heeded the advice. 

 

The waiting allowed us to evaluate whether we really wanted solar, determine what our normal energy needs were, and to see enough other Amel installations to know whether we wanted hard panels on an arch, the rails, etc or to go with flexible panels somewhere else. 

 

We opted for flexible panels on our Bimini top. 

 

I am so glad we waited as I now have a system that I am 100 percent happy with and one that is exceeding our expectations on power generation. 

 

You can read about our project and install here:

 

 

All the Best,

 

Paul Stascavage 

S/V Rita Kathryn  SM #466

 

RitaKathryn.com

 

Currently Exploring City Island 

 
Join main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io to automatically receive all group messages.