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Old 07-23-2007
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CD, is that a solar panel aray or the Disco Dancing Deck of your ship? < g >

Do you get any problems from seagulls and the like partying up there and leaving little deposits that shade the cells?

More important, you've got 520 Watts of panels up there, versus 100 Watts for one SolarStik, or 200 Watts for a pair of them. If we pulled a random number out the air and said a SS could provide 60-70AH in a day from the 100W panel set...You are getting 176AH out of a 520 W array.

Hmmm...they're going some 65% efficiency (comparing AH to W, crudely and incorrectly but still meaningful for the comparison) while you're getting about 30% efficiency from the huge flat panels. You've spent less, and you're getting enough power, but you're still using twice as much panel (and real estate) to get the same wattage out of them.

Of course you don't have to fuss with the flat panels, just hose 'em down once in a while, that's worth something too.

(That's a BIG BOAT you've got there!)
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