Hi Matthew,
Thanks for posting. Something for people to think about, if your entire season's worth of electricity cost less than $10, how long would it take to recover the cost of a solar panel? Of course if one's boat never sees a dock where electricity is available, the math is different, but for most of our boats, solar electricity can be pretty expensive by comparison.
That said, solar makes a very convenient battery maintainer and may very well extend the life of one's FLA or AGM batteries. I have found that lithium cells really don't need maintenance charging. The manufacturers state that storing lithium cells at 100% may reduce their lifespan (not much) and that long term storage should done between 70 and 50% charge. But for lead based batteries, an automated maintenance charging system can definitely save you money in the long run.
Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Matthew Geier <matthew@...> wrote:
>
> 'Downunder' it's firmly winter, and my e-boat is 'stored' for the winter
> (I've removed the motor and controller to keep them dry indoors).
>
> I really don't use my boat a whole lot, it spends most of it's time
> sitting on a trailer. (As per most normal trailable boats :-)
>
> I did 9 outings over last summer.
>
> Total electricity assuage including 'maintence' charges - 70.80 Kw/Hrs.
> I'm on a 'time of use' tariff, but assuming all charging happened in
> 'shoulder' (it didn't, much was 'off peak'), the electricity cost me $8.43.
>
> Other figure - 27.5% of my Kw/Hrs went into 'maintence' charging of my
> FLA batteries to keep em happy.
>
> Diesel fuel bill for the 4wd ute (I guess the US would call the Hilux a
> 4x4 truck), that I tow the boat with exceeded the season total
> electricity cost in one outing!
>
> I suspect (I didn't record it) the fuel I bought to put in my Honda 2000
> (which I never used 'in anger) cost more than the electricity did.
>
> I haven't included the depreciation cost of my Trojan batteries though.
>
> <http://www.sleeper.apana.org.au/boat/> describes the boat.
>
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