Tips on Installing Marine Solar Panels
Sailors can use solar panels for their energy needs, to run appliances or lights, even in cases when their generator is broken or when they don’t have enough energy in their batteries. Recharging batteries is much easier to do when using solar panels.
For a sailor, knowing how to install a solar panel in marine conditions can prove to be important, so it’s a skill worth knowing. You should also learn what solar panel works best in your situation. Usually, solar panels will use one of three main types of solar cells. Each of them comes with their own disadvantages and advantages.
Different Solar Panel Types
1. Monocrystalline cells will give you solar panels which are very efficient, while occupying a smaller space, but they don’t have protection against shade.
2. Polycrystalline cells will provide you with solar panels that are highly efficient, with even a smaller amount of space occupied, but still lacking shade protection.
3. If you get a solar panel that uses amorphous silicon cells, you will get a smaller efficiency in the conversion, with more space occupied, but at least you get the shade protection.
You will find both flexible and hard types of marine solar panels. You can use a hard solar panel on a deck. A solar panel that is flexible can be used either on a canvas or on a deck.
Solar Panels Number and Size
You will also need to be able to calculate the number of solar panels you should install on a boat, which is part of using marine solar panels. You can find on the Internet this information. You should install around 20% more solar panels, than what you estimate you will need to run your boat.
How You Should Place a Solar Panel
After you find out how many panels you need, and how big they should be, you should look for the place where you can install them. The panel’s size and the configuration of the boat determine where you can install the solar panels. You should read the solar panel instructions and make sure that the warranty isn’t cancelled by anything in the installation process.
The easy answer to the question of where should the solar panels be installed is in a place where they will get the most sun. The place that gets the less amount of shade and the most amount of sunlight is the perfect place to install your solar panels. When you install a solar panel, you should use braces/bars to make sure they are secured.
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