Fitting the Solar Panels

Today June 27th was the day I had been waiting for, because today was the day when my solar panels were going to be fitted onto the boat. I was having two panels each about 6 ft long and the width of the boat. Each panel was capable of producing almost 500kw of power on a nice day.

Gone were the days of having to run the engine for 5-6 hours just to charge the batteries. From now on when it was sunny my batteries might be fully charged before I even got out of bed!

Finding a Suitable Location

I needed to find a suitable location that provided access close to a road so the fitters didn’t have to lug the panels, the accessories and all of their gear for miles along the towpath. I eventually decided that Hinksford would be the ideal location. I moored a few meters from the bridge and road, not to far from the pumping station which can be seen in the background of the image below.

Narrowboat Araminta moored at bridge #4 Hinksford on the Shropshire Union canal

The Panels

The two fitters arrived in Hinksford at about 11am and immediately began unloading the panels and accessories off their van. They propped the panels against the hedge and I couldn’t believe that they were almost taller than me.  Each panel produces nearly 500w giving me almost 10000w of power.

solar panels resting against a hedge

The Roof Space

The panels were going to sit on the front part of the roof. I had already prepped the surface and cleaned off any leaves and other detritus ready for the fitting.

The one problem we had was the lone domed brass mushroom which was situated right where one of the panels was going to be fitted. We had already agreed that it would need to be removed and replaced with a saucer vent which have a much lower profile and therefore would sit nicely underneath the new panel. 

narrowboat roof

Fitting the Solar Panels

The panels were soon fitted in place before the wiring was connected to a new Victron controller which was to be located underneath the existing inverter inside the boat. Rather than mess around with my gorgeous pine ceiling I decided to have the wiring run through a hard conduit along the top of the roof. (you can see it running under the rope.)

Testing the Solar Panel Rod System

During the summer months, up until about September, the panels lie on brackets horizontal to the roof, but the whole system is designed to tilt on a set of metal rods.  These rods have 3 different positions which alter the tilt angle. The topmost setting has the panels raised to almost 70 degrees. Being able to have this amount of tilt means that I can access the suns power even when it is low to the horizon during the winter months. The rods can be fitted on either side so that I can point them where the sun happens to be.

solar panels in upright position

Solar Panel App Connectivity

Knowing what power is being generated by the solar panels is very important. Consequently I have downloaded the  Victron Connect app and this gives me instant information relating to my solar panels.

The app looks for any devices that you have previously connected. 

Looking for Devices

Device Listing

In my case it is my Smart Solar device under the inverter. If I click on that device listing I get a whole raft of information.

Information provided by the app

Once the app has connected to your device over WIFI you have access to three main sets of data.

The first set shows the current status of your solar panel power input. You can see from the image that despite it being a very dull, windy and wet day the panels are still producing 51w of power at the time I grabbed the screen.

It then breaks this down into four main areas. 

  1. Solar
  2. Battery
  3. Virtual load output
  4. Relay

The second tab shows the power history

The third tab shows trends over time

solar panel power input trend history

If I am being totally honest most of this information goes over my head but I am sure it will mean something to you lot 🙂

Update

I have been using the solar for several months now and I am very impressed. The only time I need to run my engine when not moving is if I have been sitting still for a couple of days and I need hot water. I am currently looking at possible solutions for utilising the solar panels to solve that problem. 

My current set up

One thing I know a lot of you will be interested in is what am I using on the boat that pulls power. I am currently using:

  • 240v fridge (constant use)
  • 240v freezer (constant use)
  • WIFI router (constant use)
  • desktop computer
  • charging points (multiple)
  • 240v microwave
  • 240v toaster
  • various lights

Not once have I ever run out of power. I know it has been summertime but I will post an update on the situation over winter.

If any one would like the same or similar system just visit the boat battery . Speak to Phil who will sort your solar out toot suite. Just let him know who told you 🙂