While cruising, I like to have ample electricity. To augment that produced by the motor, I have a solar panel. Between the two, I've never needed to do additional charging at a marina.
The panel is UniSolar US-32 and rated at 32 watts with an operating charging rate of 1.94 amps. It is a rigid panel with aluminum frame and measures 15" x 54".
To deal with the awkwardness of the frame, tennis balls are used to buffer the corners and provide feet for the panel which makes it much friendlier to the boat.
A Blocking diode is used on the panel to prevent back drain at night. A switch is installed on the box to provide a bypass to the blocking diode and regulating circuit for maximum charging.
| To enable simple hookup of
the panel to either of my boats two lighter
sockets, a Marinco plug is used which is designed with a small led
that will over voltage and blow if the panel is exposed to bright
sunlight without connection to a load. To protect the LED, I
added a
dropping resistor in series. Also in series, is a 12v Zenier diode which gives the LED some additional abilities. When the panel is unplugged but capable of charging, the LED glows because the voltage presented at the zenier exceeds 13.8 volts. When plugged in, and the voltage falls to that of the battery... the LED goes out giving visual confirmation that the panel is outputting and that once plugged in, that the connection is good. |
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