effectiveness of solar & wind

[Cruisingdad]

Sounds like a nice setup John.

As far as the bushing, etc, yes. I bought them too. And yes to the pole...although depending on the set-up it will differ for some boats. Looking back, I am not sure I put that in the original post. If not, I will edit.

- CD

[Newport41]

CD- Very nice set up. I'd love to see some pictures of your arch if you get a chance. I wanted to build ours out of aluminium but between my experience with them (those I have to admit were a little underbuilt) and what I've been told by a few friends I was talked out of it. We have some very good aluminium fabricators here and you've got me thinking aluminium again, the benifits are obvious. I have to ask though, how long have you had the arch and do you really have no cracks in the welds at all?
Thanks for the write up it was very informative.

[Cruisingdad]

Newport,

The arch is new. Using aluminum on boats is not. The only negatives I have seen is that salt water can pit aluminum depending on the coatings and how it is used. Valiant builds most of their stuff out of stainless steel. A lot of weight and expense though.

I will get some pics for you very soon. Will take a very long weekend on the boat this weekend and should be able to give good feedback.

- CD

[sailingdog]

CD-

From what I understand, due to the difference in tensile strength, the stainless steel arches are usually fairly comparable in weight to the aluminum ones, which have to be larger and heavier to have the same strength. A few other points... 1) Aluminum is harder to repair, as welding it is more difficult to do; 2) Aluminum is subject to galvanic corrosion if you have any stainless fittings attached to it; 3) Aluminum is much more susceptible to fatigue than is stainless steel...

[sailaway21]

I think I might have you on that one, Dog. Those Hondas really sip the fuel. Just watched a DVD on a guy who sailed his Potter to Hawaii from San Francisco in twenty four days, ran the honda every day to charge, and used a gallon and a half of gas.
Solar panels are not a "good for ever" investment either. I suspect that Honda will still be ticking along about the time you're tacking on your third set of panels.

The most intriguing aspect to the Duo-gen is the towed water generator. Now that baby will generate some amps. If you were going to be underway alot, I would consider it first and add the wind option later. And, it's quiet.

[Freesail99]

The Kyocere 130 watt panels are on sale for $599.00

http://www.affordable-solar.com/kyoc...olar.panel.htm

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by sailaway21

I think I might have you on that one, Dog. Those Hondas really sip the fuel. Just watched a DVD on a guy who sailed his Potter to Hawaii from San Francisco in twenty four days, ran the honda every day to charge, and used a gallon and a half of gas.
Solar panels are not a "good for ever" investment either. I suspect that Honda will still be ticking along about the time you're tacking on your third set of panels.

The most intriguing aspect to the Duo-gen is the towed water generator. Now that baby will generate some amps. If you were going to be underway alot, I would consider it first and add the wind option later. And, it's quiet.

I am guessing that his boat has significantly lower electrical demands than most, being it is a West Wight Potter...

Most solar panels will last 15-20 years with a little care, and require far less maintenance than a gasoline generator, and have far fewer things that can go wrong with them. I don't see a Honda generator lasting 15 years in a marine environment.

[Cruisingdad]

SD,

All thing equal, I would have gone stainless. I even had it (my arch) double dipped & polished to look like stainless. I did like the size of the arch (2 inch). Only time will tell, I guess. I guess if it seriously starts having problems (which I highly doubt) I can replace for a stainless. But my guess if that it will be fine and saved me about $7000. (PS, the Kyoceras as aluminum framed also, so if you go SS, you will still have aluminum on SS). If money is not an obect and you do not mind the weight, go stainless. Why wouldn't you?

Still, others have different preferences. Only time will tell for me.

- CD

[sailingdog]

CD-

If money is not an object, I'd go TITANIUM... Fewer corrosion issues and much lighter weight.

[Cruisingdad]

Here is a nice link for solar panels comparissons and real world outputs.

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/..._pvmodules.cgi