T-Pain Is On A Boat: Re: [Electric Boats] 60 foot Solar Cruiser

Monday, August 22, 2011

Re: [Electric Boats] 60 foot Solar Cruiser - Project Breakdown Part 2: Solar Array

Price is really going to be a secondary concern in that most major sites have similar prices. Your real concern is going to be the efficiency of the cells. The area needed for the cells below will be larger then just about any boat you are likely to find. The below cells are 62in x 38in you would need 25 feet by 22 feet of roof space. For the 5 by 7 strings listed bellow.

So I would pick the boat you want first, with the most possible roof real-estate, then put the most high efficiency cell you can on it. The price per watt will go up a little for the premium efficiency cells, but not terribly so. You may have to settle with a 4000 watt array or smaller depending on the roof space of the boat you pick. That is where the more efficient cells will eek you out a few more watts. As far as the inverter goes, I like the Outback product line better then the Xantrex line. But either are good solid companies.

On Aug 22, 2011, at 11:18 PM, Galstaf wrote:

Solar Cells / Off Grid Charging system

The lowest cost solar products that I am aware of are at Sunelec.com. Please correct me if there are better sources.

The following is their 6500W rated system that includes everything with the exception of the batteries (see other email for the battery discussion). This system is quoted at $16K on their website or almost $2.50 per watt with everything.

6475 W SUN-SV-T-185 LV NOW is ID-1656
5 strings of 7 modules in series$ 2.42 PER WATT
Qty DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE AMOUNT
35 SUN Solar Panel 185 Watts 17.30 Vmp NOW is ID-1656 $1.62 / Watt $299.70 $10,489.50
25 1 Foot Battery Cable - BC-1, 2/0 AWG $8.16 $204.00
24 Battery - USP-U-225C U.S. Power 225 Amp Hour 6V
Call For Price

Call For Price
5 Breaker - MNEPV20 $10.40 $52.00
5 Solar Panel Cable - MC4 Connectors 30ft $37.74 $188.70
2 5 Foot Inverter Cable - BC-5, 2/0 AWG $40.80 $81.60
2 MNEDC60 $16.00 $32.00
2 Outback Power Solar Charge Controller 80A FM-80 $586.50 $1,173.00
1 Delta Lightning Arrestor LA302DC 300VDC $40.00 $40.00
1 Midnight Solar Combiner Box MNPV6 $93.00 $93.00
1 MNDC250 $188.00 $188.00
1 Xantrex Grid-Tie/Off-Grid Inverter/Charger 6000 Watts 48 Volts XW6048 $3,138.00 $3,138.00
( Total System Price Does Not Include Batteries )

Total $15,679.80

Questions (please add any responses under each question for clarity):

* Is this off grid system suitable for a marine environment?
* Does anyone have any positive or negative things to say about any of the components here?
* Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about this particular vendor… or can offer a better alternative?
* Does anyone have any better suggestions for a 6500W solar charging system?
* would like to run totally off grid, however there may be times I need to dip into harbor to juice up the batteries. Assuming I go with the ones that are highly tolerant of massive charging amperage, what would folks recommend for a super high capacity shore power charging system that I could run a couple of high capacity charging cables too to replenish the batteries in a hurry. Thoughts?

Any other comments about the SOLAR CHARGING portion of this project, please feel free to be as verbose as possible. Links to manufacturers, and any and all pricing and performance data is sincerely appreciated.
My best,
Bill