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Changing from Wind to Solar Energy

When I moved my new Nicholson 32 sloop, Alibi of Bridham, from a marina to a mooring this summer I also had to rethink my power requirements, since the change meant severing my umbilical to the grid. Although I had a powerful (read: noisy) wind generator as an alternative power source, along with a small photovoltaic (PV) solar array to keep the engine’s cranking battery topped up when the wind dies, I’ve since decided to lose the noisy windmill and go wholly solar.

Installing a Pole Mounted Solar Panel

I had to find a way to charge the batteries in my absence, which meant wind or solar power. I toyed with the idea of installing a wind generator, but it seemed like too much expense and hassle; and, lacking a bimini, there was nowhere convenient to place a solar panel where it wouldn’t be either in the shadow of the rig or in the way of the crew…

Flexible Solar Panels

Maintenance-free and weatherproof, Ganz Eco-energy semi-flexible solar panels provide clean, quiet, reliable power offshore

GEAR: Simrad NSS 4

Simrad has upgraded their line of chartplotters with the NSS 4, a new model designed with going off soundings in mind.

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