My last big addition to the boat - 2 Kyocera 135 solar panels. Greg and I start assembling the panels on the dock.
The panels will be mounted on two aluminum support bars. If you look closely at the center of the bar you can see the Kato pivot support I am attaching to the bar (its in the slot between dock decking) which will mount on our Kato solar mounts.
The panels, attached to the support bars with pivot hardware, will attach to the supports mounted on the Kato dinghy davits. We just have to thread the panels through the backstays/wind gen mount etc, and hold them out at arms length over the stern and line up the screw holes.
It was a challenge, but we got them installed without dropping anything in water. Amazing. Could have used a third person. Now its time to secure the wiring.
This is a good view of the Kato solar panel pivot mounts that allow you to orient the panels towards the sun.
Mission accomplished, at least for the external mounting. Now I need to finish up the below decks wiring. The Bluesky regulator is mounted in the starboard lazerette, a circuit breaker cut off switch at the engine control panel. The wiring connects to the 110v battery charger posts in lazerette.
The Bluesky regulator has an external display monitor to be mounted at the nav table. It connects via a standard telephone cable (50ft) that I have to install next.
This is a neat installation with panels out of any shadow zone. The only downside is 60lbs mounted behind the boat which lowers the stern another 1/2in or so. Not good for my boat which is already stern heavy. But then we are cruisers, not racers. With 270watts of solar plus the AirX windgenerator with new high tech blades, we should be all set for generating electricity.
