I've been Solar Struck by the SolarStik

[Giulietta]

Keep'em a comin.....keep'em a comin.....

As they say here in Rodeo land....

[werebeagle]

Towed Generator? Is that where you put the Gen in the dink and tow it behind to reduce noise?

[RealityCheck]

Much of my Carib time is at anchor with very little long distance sailing so a towed generator would not be useful but if I were doing long passages, I would consider it.

I'm leaning toward the stick with the KISS wind gen... they do make an adapter. I still have to figure out what my actual needs/ wants in power will be and then see if a fixed rear davit type unit or the SolarStik is the best. I do like the look of the SolarStik and wind gen vs the large flat panels on a rear support but that would probably give me more working space for other "toys" I may want to use even more power... Radar/HF Radio/Sat doms/ moon bounce arrays... geezzz maybe a really long power cord is what I need. Will never consider a genset... too much noise... not what I do sailing for and the KISS is about as low noise as a wind gen can get.

Great thread here... love the info and opinions.

[hellosailor]

A little more news trickles in:

First, that PWM makes a difference in charging--but that difference also depends on charge state (aka SOC) and no one wants to comment beyond the Morningstar/Sandia report.

Second, that some alternators supply PWM, but others still supply DC, and again, no makers want to comment, apparently there is a Cold War going on in charger/alternator technology, still.

Third, Cam take note, that during the "bulk" phase amperage is more important than voltage, and the charging algorithm used by BS very definitely favors supplying more amperage at lower voltage, which explains why I wasn't seeing 14.4 (or 13.6) during that phase.


Fifth, the BS controller may be 97% efficient at 24v versus 95% efficient at 12V (input voltages) so setting the panels up for 12/vs/24 volt input won't make much of a difference...although, if setting them up for 24V allows me to gain an extra hour of charging under load--that will be interesting. Haven't had a chance to ask BP about the effect of removing the diodes (since the BS takes care of that purpose) to try eeking another quarter or perhaps half volt out of the panels, either.

And of course last, the weather gods still won't whisper in my ear and let me know when there will be a nice clear sunny late afternoon to finish some testing.

[SchoonerMISTRESS]

Here in lovely Florida for the past four or five days we have been having afternoon thunderstorms that start hazing up the sky by late morning and staying that way for the rest of the day. It has been nice to capture what sun power I can early on with my unofficial Solar Stik(s). The AirX wind generator has also not been giving us a steady rain of power. There have been burst of energy in the afternoon when the storms come through, but overall, we are having a normal mid summer sky. For the second or third time in a year we ran the engine for an hour this evening because the batteries were down to 12.4. We probably could have lived like real sailors and been cruising conservative, but opted to use a bit of fuel.
Kathleen
aboard
Schooner MISTRESS

[hellosailor]

Thunderstorms?

I woke up this morning and found out I'd been relocated to Kansas, seven (SEVEN) tornado echos were on the weather radars at the same time that an EF2 hit Brooklyn, clocked at some 115mph, which hasn't been hit by a tornado in 50 years.

Kansas...I'm sorry, I'm sure someone loves living there, I just never signed up for that tour.

Meanwhile...I found out that my DMM apparently was out of calibration. While I hasten to get the last work done, I'm also trying to make sure it is better calibrated, but for now, I have to assume the discrepancy between my measurements and the SB's numbers, were mainly an error on my end.

Heatwaves, torrents, overcasts, tornadoes...this is NO WAY TO GET TESTS DONE!
< G >

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

...I found out that my DMM apparently was out of calibration. While I hasten to get the last work done, I'm also trying to make sure it is better calibrated, but for now, I have to assume the discrepancy between my measurements and the SB's numbers, were mainly an error on my end.

Heatwaves, torrents, overcasts, tornadoes...this is NO WAY TO GET TESTS DONE!
< G >

And how did you know it was out of calibration??? You did the ole key on the kite trick, didn't you? (smile)

- CD

[hellosailor]

Well, no. I though it was IN calibration because it showed a tight 12v regulated supply as 12.0x volts. But now I have to suspect that source--because I remembered where I had failed to unpack my other DMM from, and the other DMM said "He's nuts". The other DMM seems to read much closer to the SolarBoost readout, and it is the better quality of the two.

I've got to do some more looking at this, poll the usual suspects and see what seems reasonable. Ain't gonna send either one off for lab calibration though.< G >

[bvibob]

The Practical Sailor article on the Solarstik came out today......

[Cruisingdad]

Originally Posted by bvibob

The Practical Sailor article on the Solarstik came out today......

Made for an interesting read. IT was a good review, pretty much stating what has been said in this forum though. A good product, well made, and good idea. 70-80 ah/day is "optimistic", but adding a wind gen on there can make 100 ah/day a real possibility.

At least, that is how I read it.

- CD