The first few trips out on the boat had us trying all the onboard electronics.
Depth Sounder, GPS, Stereo, Cabin Lights, Running Lights... all worked
well off our brand new marine battery.
Eventually the volt meter on the GPS told us the battery needed more
juice so upon returning, I unhooked all the cabling, lugged it up the
hill to the car and brought it home to charge.
Well, let me tell you... one time up the hill was enough for me. Next
stop was the hardware store to pick up a solar panel. Since the boat is
in direct sunlight all day long, what better way to keep the battery topped
off than free power from the sun!
The only real problem is lack of flat surfaces. The solar panel was not
flexible so I needed to mount it flat. I thought of wedging rubber pads
under the ends but the final solution was to bolt it to the cabin door.
The suface was flat and allowed the panel to angle directly into the sun.
Maybe next summer we will invest in a larger flexable panel and mount
it on the slide hatch of the cabin roof. An additional 15 watts would
be nice, giving us a total of about 1.5 amps of free power.
- 5w Solar Panel (Colman)
Note: I also tried the Canadian Tire brand (5w Eliminator) which
was $30 cheaper but it produced half the power of the Colman
brand under the same light when tested with a meter.
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