Solar Panel Install

Ever since purchasing the first battery for the old Martin 29 we have been thinking about wind and solar power. The wind generator I discussed in the Gulf 32 post. We don't have an arch astern and I
didn't want to add anything to the Bimini structure so we went with
flexible 100 watt panels. One to start with and a PWM controller. I read about the MPPT vs PWM controllers and discovered that the additional expense of the mppt was not warranted for installations under around 400 watts. This may have changed by now but bears investigation if you are just putting in a battery maintainer. The two panels I got eventually from Canadian Energy along with the new batteries have performed well though they were cheap panels build wise. The way I installed them on the Bimini canvas necessitated using the grommets that came with the panels. Of course on the first panel the grommets were too small for the stayput fittings so I had to drill them out and install solid brass 3/8 grommets. Hard to find but actually found a kit at Wallmart. haha. Lots of cheap fake brass plated ones around but you need the solid brass ones. These guys are great for all things canvas. The second panel also from Canadian Energy was also cheap but differed from the first which was from Sun solar made in China to a German brand also made in China. The grommets in the latter panel were the right size but made from tin and so rusted out immediately and I will have to replace them this winter. This irritated me immensely and I complained to the company about the cheapness of the build. Imagine putting in cheap plated steel on a marine use item! However the solar cells themselves do function. I attached both panels directly to the bimini canvas with stayput fasteners and have had no problems with them at all. The first panel I built large backings and sewed the entire backing with the enclosed stayput fastener enclosed onto the canvas. The second panel I used a smaller version of the backing panel and sewed it on with waxed thread using an awl. The wind blows over the dodger when at anchor so the idea of wind lifting the panels off in less that storm force winds I believe is extremely low to non existent. If anchoring in a storm one would remove everything from the deck including sails bimini dodger etc. and tie off the genny as well though with the wind generator there is internal braking, but the manufacturers do advise that prolonged exposure to high storm force winds may damage it. I looked at the velcroing and the flaps sewn in and all that but it all seemed though pretty, overkill. I then attached the two panels in parallel and ran the cable down through my radar tower to the controller. From the controller the cable then goes through a breaker panel and to the house battery. The breaker panel also holds a breaker for the wind generator. The batteries are four 6V 220 amp hour AGM in a series/parallel arrangement for a 440 amp hour bank. With this set up I can easily do 3 or 4 days without the engine, or more of course depending on
how much stuff is running. I have done three days and three nights with the freezer, fridge and regular lights, furnace and stove fans running without the batteries dropping below 50%. This under cloudy skies, but with fairly persistent breeze around 10 knots.

I may install a couple more panels one day, on the coach roof. I would likely use the hard monocrystalline type there as they are better for the money. Although the higher end flexible panels are higher efficiency cells, with so much obstruction I wonder at their practicality in that location. Alternatively one could hang a couple off of the stern railings however once again the angle there can be 100% or next to nothing as the boat swings. For the most part though, the 200 watts that we have on the bimini is sufficient. We also carry a portable 50 watt poly crystalline panel in two 25s in series for charging our electric trolling motor. This is sufficient to keep the old 90 amp hour AGM charged up.We have since got rid of this group..the electric o/b and portable solar and battery. Too long to charge..too little power..too much stuff and weight. Although the principal is enticing the actuality is very expensive..Torqueedo, lithium, genset. So we bought a 2.5 HP o/b and a gas can. 
As I put these components in place a gradual learning curve branches off to form an understanding curve. After struggling with the battery monitor I finally glommed onto the point off negative load wires and positive load wires. Now I am re-running all of my negative load wires to the proper side of the monitor shunt, and removing all stray negs from the battery bank including the xantrex charger. Even though the charger has the capability of feeding two batteries, with the ACR unit this becomes redundant. In fact I rarely even use the second battery to start the engine, but keep it charged as back up only, the ACR taking care of this by shunting excess power to the second battery when float charge has been reached. I have not seen the SOC drop on the back up battery below its resting state of 13.5 since using combiners. Initially there was an old 50 amp combiner there I believe West Marine branded but made by Yandina. When the battery bank was enlarged I installed a Blue Sea ACR.   BlueSea