Solar Arch Fabrication & Installation - 2021
Installation
Installation involved bolting it to the deck and then looking for ways to continue to stiffen it. We arrived at a very workable solution, but didn’t get it sufficiently sealed so we have some leaking through the deck holes that still needs to be addressed.
Fabrication
We contracted with Marine Fabricators in Kilmarnick, VA to create both the Arch and Swim Platform. They did a great job, but working outside caused significant delays due to wind blowing the Argon gas away from the work area and due to COVID supply chain disruptions, the price of AL skyrocketed. The whole thing ended up taking significantly longer than planned and cost far more than planned.
The diagram shows the plan for the solar panels (10 x 210 W panels)
Wiring
There are many ways to hook this many panels up and Peter Kennedy from PYCS was instrumental in helping me into a great solution. We chose to have 5 strings of 2 panels in series. This provides the controllers with sufficient voltage to adequately charge the batteries. By using more controllers we get around shading problems as we might lose use of 1 or more panels depending on boat and sun orientation.
Accessories
Having this much structure on the stern of the boat opened up all sorts of possibilities to store and mount things.
So far we have:
The dinghy motor and lift
Fishing rod storage under the panels but overhead
4 Trolling rod holders
Cup holders
Dinghy anchor storage
Boarding ladder storage
Life Sling mounting
Stereo Speaker Mounting
Sail trim light
Swim deck light
Light for water in back of boat
and adding more as we go…..
Antenna support
So again having this much area provided us mounting support for many of our RF needs
GPS Antenna for AIS
GPS Antenna for Autopilot course Computer
SatCompas & GPS
Iridium Go! antenna
VHF Cockpit Antenna
Original Configuration
When we purchased the boat, we found 4 80W panels on the back that were manufactured in 2006 (give or take). Needless to say, we could do much better and in keeping with Go Big or Go Home, came the plan to have a custom arch designed and built to hold a much larger and modern solar array and also hold antennas, lights, provide overhead storage, provide lifting for the dinghy motor and more....