Solar Power - resources for cruising sailors

Solar Panel and Regulator

[Site]

Owners' Group By Bob Schimmel
Solar Panel and Regulator

The solar panel choices include what type to buy, where to locate them, how to attach them to the boat, and how to regulate the current.

[San Juan 23 Internet Fleet, USA]
- Solar panels for small cruising boats

Which is Better - Wind Generator or Solar Panels

[Site]

Integrators

A comparison of the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two renewable energy systems.

[e-Marine, Inc., Ft Lauderdale, FL, USA]
- Read the article on line

Power to the People 3: Supply-Side Economics

[Offline]

Overview By Nigel Calder

How to choose an alternator that fits your battery bank and a three-stage regulator to fit your alternator. The attractions and limits of solar and wind power. 2 pages.

[Sail Magazine, September 2001]
- Order the Sail Magazine back issue

U.S. Solar Radiation Data Base

[Site]

Text and maps of the United States showing solar radiation by city and state in the U.S. by month. If you are thinking of using solar collectors to help power you boat′s systems, this will help you calculate how much power you′ll get in your location.

[Renewable Resource Data Center, USA]
- See the solar power data

Sizing Your System

[Site]

Integrators

How to calculate the available solar energy in your area, determine your consumption requirements, and choose the proper size of solar array.

[e-Marine, Inc., Ft Lauderdale, FL, USA]
- Read the article on line

Solar Panels - are they for you?

[Site]

Integrators

A cruising yachtsman describes his decision to buy solar panels and the research he did to find the right panels for his energy needs. Published by a vendor of solar energy systems.

[e-Marine, Inc., Ft Lauderdale, FL, USA]
- Read the article on line

Alternative Power

[Article]

Thorough Overview By Don Casey

High-output alternators are a waste of money on a small-to-medium-sized battery bank. If you don′t want to run the engine a lot, look to slower-charging solar or wind chargers.

[SailNet, 28 July 2003]
- Read the article on line

rec.boats.electronics newsgroup

[Site]

Usenet newsgroup

Unmoderated forum on marine electrical and electronic equipment. Good advice and resources here, but you have to dig and you have to be selective.

[Usenet, USA]
- Rec.boats.electronics forum
- What is Usenet?

Solar (photovoltaic)

[Site]

Personal resource list By Bill Dietrich

Brief grab bag of facts and commentary about power from solar cells. Contains excerpts from hard-to-find bulletin board and newsgroup postings, as well as links to useful sites and vendor pages.

[Bill Dietrich, USA]
- Thoughts about solar panels

The Power equipment & Electricity forum

[Site]

Non-commercial forum

A discussion board and photo gallery for cruising sailors and wannabes focused on the best ways to generate, distribute, and control electricity on a cruising boat.

[Cruisers Forum, Buskerud, Norway]
- The Electicity forum

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