solar panel

[teachlauri]

Thinking of purchasing a solar panel for my 26 ft Cutwater...Would like to know if boaters have had success with the Cutwater Solar Panel maintaining your house batteries to run your fridge.

 

[S. Todd]

We have the factory installed solar panel on our R25SC and find that it does a good job of maintaining the batteries. I load the refrigerator at home and it runs the entire day on the trailer on the way to the lake and when on the hook. The refrigerator is our only real power consumer ( we have the all LED light option ) and the solar panel is a real plus in my opinion. We will be taking a trip in October this year with shorter daylight hours it will get a test. However, I expect to run the engine every day just to move to a different place, but with the solar panel and the engine hours we will go the entire week without shore power.

 

[Connerkip]

When on the hook, I usually need to run the engine some the next day to build back the charge. Keep in mind also the direction of the sun and intensity, shadows from the radar, etc., have a large bearing on the charging amps produced by the panel. Some days are poor solar charging days.

 

[knotflying]

I find that I am good for three days in the summer when on the hook. After that a 4 hour run to another spot tops me off and I am good for another three days. Yes, the refrigerator is the biggest hog of power at about 2.5 amps

 

[rpmerrill]

My boat just spent two weeks at a dock without shore power. Except for an engine test run by my mechanic there was no external charging done. Fridge ran the whole time.