Off the grid

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The Gipper May 13, 2014

I installed 2 flexible solar panels on my sailboat yesterday, 100w each, generating about 15 amps. It's been about 16 hours so far and my battery bank has maintained near capacity. Voltage output dropped down to 12.2 overnight, but has risen steadily to 13.1 today. Just need to pick up a stronger inverter to make my coffee in the morning and I'm good to go!
ꅔꉻꐪ꒩ᵀᴸ May 13, 2014

That's really cool. Are you actually going off the grid or just poking fun at the idea of it?
The Gipper May 13, 2014

It just makes me sound cooler than I really am :). I was calculating my amperage output, trying to determine how long I could be out on the hook with simply running the engine every few hours, but my alternator is so old, it would take me up to 8 hours a day of running it just to maintain battery usage. That kind of goes against the whole purpose of having a sailboat.

The set up is strictly for overnight and weekend sail trips, as that's the comfort limit I'm at at this point. I like the option of not needing to find a marina to recharge if I don't want to go ashore.
〓ＲＯＳＳＢＯＳＳ〓 May 13, 2014

That's so cool