Wind Generators or Solar Power to Re-Charge the Batteries

[petes]

Living in New England our Summers are short making our sailing days really precious. Having a dead battery or a "sub-charged" battery is not a good thing. What I am trying to determine is what is the most effective, cost conscious way to keep my two battery house bank, and starting battery charged while I am away from my CD30. (Could be up to 2 weeks while moored out in the bay.)

I have read about Wind Generators and Flexible Solar Cell Mats, Rigid Solar Array's, etc. as possibilities. I was wondering if any of you can share any experiences which would provide me with some insight into these devices, with the intent to direct me to a quality product with a good guarantee, a company who stands behind what they sell at a reasonable price. (If any comparisons can be made between Wind Generators and Solar Arrays that would be a real plus.)

Pete[/b]

[Russell]

If your just trying to keep the batteries topped up while away from the boat I would recommend a small solar panel rather then a wind generator. Since it is not ment to be a primary charging source and your not looking for large capacity a small solar panel will be cheaper and easier to install and can be kept pretty out of the way.

[mahalocd36]

I think you'll find this is discussed extensively in the archives, but your cheapest option is probably a flexible solar powered mat. We use one, wrapped either around our boom or rolled up bimini, and it keeps our batteries charged just fine while on our mooring. Even last year when we had some issues with our float switch triggering our bilge pump on way too many times (bilge counter was a pretty scary number). We've used it on our previous boat for a year and this year will be the 4th on Mahalo, so it's pretty durable. We got it from someplace in Arizona, a non-boating store, so it was cheaper. I think it was Northern Arizona Wind & Sun but it was 5 years ago
http://store.solar-electric.com/1to39wasopa.html
The brand is unisolar.

Ours is 5 watts and we've had good luck with it. However we do run our engine every weekend to get on/off the mooring and we make sure the batteries are charged when we leave.

[Bill Cochrane]

Like Mahalo, I use a unisolar flexible panel when off the boat. It goes through an (unnecessary) regulator to the house battery bank. I have a Balmar duo-charge that connects the starting battery whenever the house circuit rises above ~13V so it stays up as well.

I use the Blue Sea systems battery switch panel that has a switch for the engine battery (on-off), a 100-amp breaker for the house bank, and an emergency parallel switch that normally stays off but can be used to boost starting current if needed. With this setup there's no chance of the house loads drawing down the starting battery (IF the emergency parallel switch is left OFF), and both banks charge as needed.

Unfortunately, Unisolar appears to have stopped making the flexible panels for no reason that I can determine...they're perfect for portable or occasional use, or to conform to a non-flat surface like the furled sail, the dodger top, etc.

[Paul D.]

I recommend calling Ham Ferris at Hamilton Ferris Power products. Four years ago, I told him my situation which is similar to yours and he suggested a 60 watt panel and regulator which comes as a package for around $500. I hung the panel off the stern and put the regulator in place of an old broken and unused 12 volt socket on the panel bulkhead.

I sit on a mooring and have an old standard alternator and the batteries are always charged. My top useage was planned for just under 100 amp hours a day. The panel puts out a good 3 amps plus in the sun and we use the fridge and autopilot no worries.

You may not even need such a big panel but I was planning on having the panel cover a bit more of our charging needs.

Either way, a quick conversation with them will definately help and I have not had a problem (Touch teak) with any of their items.

Paul