They've just been on sale at Aldi.

Bristolfashion said..
I hate to confess that we have been living aboard with 20W of solar and almost no engine charging (more or less sail everywhere ). Still, no fridge or water pump. I think we'll just sail around to make sure we stay in the sunshine.

Very frugal of you

I would miss a fridge though, and I think it's worth having a few more solar panels to power one.

scruzin said...

samsturdy said..

They've just been on sale at Aldi.

At Jaycar too:

www.jaycar.com.au/80w-portable-fold-up-solar-panel/p/ZM9130

I did have a look at the ones in Jaycar and the guy said that the folding ones were not 4 marine use - worth checking.

do those panels also have a raw output that bypasses the built-in PWM controller?

fishmonkey said..
do those panels also have a raw output that bypasses the built-in PWM controller?

The Jaycar ones don't, but it may be possible to remove the charge controller with a bit of hacking. I'll take a closer look next time.

I liked this guy's setup.. atomvoyages.com/cys/222-the-solar-tracker.html . Basically when a panel is directed towards the sun it makes good power. Since we sit on our boats on mooring or on passage, it's not hard to reach up and change a panel's orientation. So... if you get a lot more out of a panel or two whilst living aboard, you don't need to be a panel farm. I'm waiting on my panels now for fitting to this boat.

There is a locker but I spoil her lines by having the tank on deck.