Quest for Power - part 1

The June sun beams down from a cloudless sky. Stargazer lies to a borrowed mooring. The groan of a loaded line, sliding through the pick up eye, announces that the tide is on the turn. Stargazer daintily pirouettes and faces up river.

I put down my book and go forward to move our roving 50w solar panel, to the new sunny side of the cabin top. Expecting to be rewarded by the sight of current flowing into into our battery bank, I duck below to check the battery monitor . The batteries are at 12.4v. No charge from the panel. 

The most likely culprit is the panel connector plug. After half an hour on YouTube, finding out how to disassemble it, I have it apart - for the first time in 15 years. (The panel was a carry over from Goblin, Stargazer's predecessor). The source of our problems is immediately clear. The cable ends are thick with green, powdery, verdigris.

I trim the corroded cable back, to fresh shiny copper, and swap the plug body for a spare, which I find in Stargazer's 'ditty box .' My reward is the sight of the batteries climbing to a heady 12.7v, as soon as I put the solar panel back on deck . Our batteries are charging again. 

Satisfied, I return to the cockpit . I watch as the day boats jink and dart between the moorings, riding the new tide down river. Enjoying carefree summer sailing . My mind is still on Stargazer's battery health . How liberating, for our cruising plans, full off grid electrical self sufficiency would be.

We had our trusty roving panel rigged, whenever at anchor, on both of our 'away-all-summer' cruises to date : in South Brittany and on the west coast of Ireland. It slowed the daily battery drain . Prolonged the moment before which the engine alternator was needed, or shore power had to be sought . However it could never keep up with the power consumption of our navigation instruments and fridge . Back-of an-envelope calculations said that I'd need between 150w and 200w to achieve that.

The challenge, on a 31 foot boat, is where to mount 150w of solar panels? There is just about sufficient space on the cabin top. But most of that area is walked on and is frequently in shadow, from the rig. An aft gantry would carry 150w of panels. But that would add weight and windage high up, just where it is least wanted - and do nothing for Stargazer's looks. Fold up panels, mounted on the guard wires, to either side of the cockpit, (where some boats rig canvas dodgers) are a popular solution . I got as far as making up some cardboard 'dummy' panels, as a trial, a couple of seasons back . But they fouled sheets and mooring lines . But, but, but!

Think of the freedom, which electrical self sufficiency would bring - I tell myself; as boats bustle past and the sea breeze sets in. Now that our cruises will not be constrained by time, by the dictates of work, why allow electrical power to be a constraint? Green energy solutions have been the focus of extensive development activity, over the past decade. Have moved from a left-field to a mainstream technology . Surely there must be a solution to Stargazer's off grid needs? Our quest for power is on. I begin to Google phone and e mail......