As I get ever older I try to keep mind and body as fit as I can... as anyone north of 60 will attest it's easier to loose capability than gain it and when lost it's even harder to recover.
Well that was a opening sentence for sure.. and how does it relate to solar panels? At the cottage I have installed east/west solar panels and house batteries. That along with the EV have saved us close to £2,000 a year plus a lot less fossil fuel burning in the process. Using the knowledge from doing the same on Waterlily then Percy.
The other week when it was wet and cold so no motorbike riding or DIY - I got to thinking of a project that would/could add more solar to the cottage and engage my mind and body - specifically in this case to the gable end wall of the garage. Now those that know will tell you 35 degrees pitch is the optimum angle for UK all year round solar panels. But the gable end wall has no pitch.... enter my challenge to add some sort of actuator to lift and drop a panel to the right angle each day.
Research and Amazon saw me spend a enjoyable. ( for me) couple of days learning about passive twin relay wifi switches and actuators that saw me deliver a tidy little system that extends the panel to 35 degrees at sun rise and drops it back flat at sunset. If the wind it above 30mph it will not extend, if during the daylight period the wind gets over 30 mph it will retract....
It powers a portable battery that runs tube heaters fans and battery chargers for the bikes in the garage.
So how does this relate to my boat solar panels? On Waterlily many years ago ( 15 or more I will check) I added our first foray into sun harvesting. A 135w solar panel. This got transferred to Percy when we sold and brought the respective boats. It was more of a top up for the batteries... with the smart MTTP controller a good way to keep the lead acid batteries in best condition and also charged for the bilge pump.
I think - need to check again earlier this year or late last year I swapped that 135w panel for a 380w panel. I also have a 370w panel ground mounted that I use to charge the Ecoflow battery when we take that. Its a Solar battery that basically acts as a hook up .. can be charged in an hour off the genny or in 3 hours off the ground mounted solar panel, then in the evening we use it to run the boat - all very similar to the cottage but on a smaller scale.
I've never liked the look of a fixed panel on the roof of the boat. The boat roof needs some work next spring which will enable me to put on a flexible panel which should be less obtrusive and also work to protect the roof after the work (painting).
I have another gable end - a unobstructed south facing end of workshop that I intend putting the similar system on as the garage - above, but rather than buy another solar panel yesterday I went in the van and swapped the large 380 with the little 135 panel for the remainder of the winter and spring until I can fit a flexible panel....
Swinging the large panels off the boat and into the van was a good amount of exercise. I swapped over the taxi magnets that hold the panels. All done and Percy looked fine after being left another month. I want to get back to get the back stove finally fitted after my success with the front stove but that'll have to be before or into the New Year.
