Davit Solar - More power Scotty!

We chose to have Nautitech install the solar on our boat. They offered the following:

• Rooftop: 8 x 180W flexible panels

• Dinghy Davits: 4 x 100W rigid panels

In my previous post, I documented the issues I am experiencing with the flexible rooftop panels, so it is not clear that I can depend on them long term. Even when operational, there is not quite enough solar power generated on a typical day to fully charge the 1000 Ah batteries on MackenSea. Additionally, the rooftop panels sit under the boom, so when underway, they are always in partial shade. This has led me to want to get more power from the davit-mounted panels.

I like the davit mount arrangement on MackenSea—it looks good, provides protection for the dinghy, and does not interfere with visibility. However, I don’t understand why Nautitech chose to install only four small 100W panels on the davits. There seems to be plenty of available space for larger panels, and if extended, they could provide full coverage for the dinghy, which would be a nice bonus. I suspect it is aesthetics over function, I will ask Nautitech for clarification.

Current Install:

Power: 4 X100W Panels

Area: 104 cm X 213 cm

Extension Options:

Fore and aft:

• Can extend forward by 22cm (limited by mainsheet lines)

• The dinghy extends approximately 70 cm from the back of the current panels

• This equates to 196 cm

Beam;

• To cover the Dingy requires that we can extend by 60 cm on each side

• We can extend up to 70 cm on each side without interfering with anything else

• This equates to a maximum size of 353 cm

So a natural choice would be three panels:

• Maximum length: 200 cm

• Maximum width: 117 cm

This should allow three panels up to 450W to be installed, more than tripling capacity.

Panel Mounting

1. The current panels are mounted flat, with the larger panels it would make sense to incline them backward slightly in order to have rain run off the back.

2. I'd like to have a little space between the Davits and the solar panels to store paddle boards.