Canal boat advice.

[Jimy]

First off my experiences with solar power is very limited, I installed one system back in the 90's from drawings and helped out with another around 02.

Anyway, I'm helping a friend fit out his canal boat over the winter and he wants me to fit a solar system and maybe a wind turbine or two. It will need to hook up to the gird and charge from the panels. The deck is about 6.6" x 21 ft and he is looking to completely cover this as and when he can afford it. He's not planning to sell anything back to the electricity company but it would be interesting to know if you can from a boat.

So,
What inverter would do the job?
What panels would you recommend?
What sort of power will this generate?


Cheers,

 

[amlu]

what sort of loads are they planning to use? and what is the budget like? solar panels will be enough to power lighting (12v led), a small inverter for powering computer/tv/chargers etc.
rough estimate of 12 100watt panels should fit in there...
thats 1200 watts in perfect conditions, much less considering manufacturers specs are crap, much less considering uk weather
its going to be tricky if they planning to use kettles and other power hungry stuff. especially considering recent weather...

its different installation from standard installed at homes, they wont be selling power back to the grid, it has to be stored
in some battery bank, and used when sun is down.
where about are you? if somewhere around london town i may be able to help bit more.

 

[solarfred]

No you can't sell back to the grid from a boat or get FIT as you would not have a registered meter (MPAN).I think there is a thread about this somewhere.
I have just designed a system for fixing solar panels to canal boat roofs if you are interested. It avoids the need for drilling holes in the roof and also allows the panels to be easily removed for cleaning and maintaining the roof.
You need to balance the panel power with the battery bank available and use the most efficient system and components to save every ounce of available watts.
Good panels would be from an MCS certified production line. Voltage around 17-18vmp for 12 volt system. The manufacturers specs on a decent panel are very accurate as you will have a flash test report to tell you what it will deliver at STC.
Over 6 x 100wp panels needs careful planning as the current levels are getting high and charge controllers can be easily overloaded.
Using good quality components on a boat is essential from an efficiency and safety aspect.
Make a list of all loads and ensure everything is low voltage where possible. LED lights and LED TVs/, computers etc. will use less power. 12 volt pumps. Avoid inverters wherever possible. Washing machines can use smaller elements. Solar thermal would help with water heating which is expensive via electricity.
Use deep cycle batteries NOT leisure batteries. Oversizing (or under depleting) the battery bank will extend it's life.

 

[telectrix]

full speed ahead, and damn the torpedoes.

 

[TedM]

The issue with not being able to claim FiTs for a boat isn't the lack of an MPAN as it could easily be either hooked up to one in a marina when moored (even if there were multiple boats on one MPAN) or treated as off-grid. But OFGEM won't allow them because the 'site' is moveable, and the same would apply with a caravan or motor-home.

 

[Jimy]

Thanks for the advice, its really helpful.

The canal is at the bottom of his garden and he has power from his house to the boat. What do you use to stop the the boat energising the house if the 240 has to be shut off?

 

[amlu]

you may separate solar install from mains power, use it 12/24v dc for lights and small inverter for small appliances.
existing mains feed can be equipped with couple of sockets for running power hungry stuff, and and maybe a 12/24 charger for topping up batteries when not much sun available.

 

[Worcester]

Voltage drop, islanding, insuffient power to run devices switched on... To go 'off grid' you'll need a comprehensive supply back up strategy - i.e. deep cycle batteries, which at the moment are still very expensive, and a very different design.

 

[amlu]

off the grid its not that bad... boat install will be happy to power led lights all over, radio, tv, small fridge, chargers, laptop etc.
battery bank 400Ah should be around £500, if you don't use it too hard will last 10 years.
for backup you can keep a smallish generator on board
possible to do for less than 2 grand in materials cost.

 

[Worcester]

@amlu you're right, though the discussion had moved to hooking the boat up to the house and powering the house from the boat - 'off grid' - a different matter entirely
Solarfred's the off grid DC power specialist and always comes up with good caravan / boat solutions

 

[SYKRAPS]

How will you walk on board the boat if it is totally covered with solar panels?

 

[Jimy]

I've just been on the phone with him, and what he wants to do is be able to charge the boat battery with the solar panels/wind turbines and also be able to send power to the house when the boat battery is fully charged.

The boat is fitted with a big bank of batteries but that's not going to the house, just the excess power that's generated from the wind and sun.

 

[Jimy]

How will you walk on board the boat if it is totally covered with solar panels?

I think it has narrow walk ways down each side. You don't need to walk on the roof it has an entrance at the front and back.

 

[Worcester]

So he either needs a full grid connected system to generate the AC for the house, - can be done, just not elgible for fits, or a full off grid solution - sunny island (for the batteries) & sunny boy inverter (one for pv, one for wind) etc.

It won't add up to be economical.

http://www.sma.de/en/products/off-grid-inverters/sunny-island-60h-80h.html#Technical-Data-79859