A QUICK AND EASY WAY TO ADD A SOLAR POWERED LIGHTING SYSTEM

I mentioned awhile back how living on my boat with it's LED lights and Solar Panels inspired me to build the solar powered lighting system for my house.
Now a company called BIOLITE has come up with a compact solar lighting, charging and music system that is priced reasonably and could be used at home or on a boat.

It even has an FM radio and MP3 player built in. Here is an overview:



Looks like a quick and easy way to add a solar powered lighting system to a boat or home.

 Kit includes a 6 watt solar panel, screws, the control box, three individual string lights with individual switches, including one with a motion sensor.

• Lighting includes 3 over-head lights with their own switches: 2 100-lumen string lights and 1 motion sensor light.
• Control box includes 20-watt hour rechargeable battery to store solar energy, 2 USB device charging ports, digital display for feedback on power availability, and speaker control
• Enjoy the built-in FM radio and speaker or use the SD card reader to play your MP3 music

At $149 the BioLite SolarHome 620 Portable Off-Grid Solar Lighting System is at a minimum a great way to light up your evenings or if you already have solar it could provide the backup lighting you need for nights at anchor. While allowing your current system to deal with important functions like refrigeration. 

Hat Tip: Boat Bits

HARVEST TIME

I was glad to be on board to once again see the full moon rise over the harbor. It was the Harvest Moon and probably the last one I see before I put the boat on land for the winter. Watching that Harvest Moon I began thinking that BIANKA has been back on the mooring for over two weeks. In that time I have not had to fire up the Honda 2000 eu generator to charge the two battery banks on board. Which is a good thing because as efficient as the Honda is it is still fuelish to use it. Instead BIANKA has be harvesting all the energy it needs from the solar panels and 48 volt Marine Air X wind turbine. So there has been no need to fire up the generator. No doubt the addition of the new 100 watt Renogy solar panel has added enough power to make up for the additional refrigeration I added this year.

KEEPING THINGS NAUTICAL OVER THE WINTER AT HOME

This winter has not been one conducive to working on board the boat so far. So I've been sitting around thinking about the projects not getting done, whether or not I need a Sailrite sewing machine in my life and other wishful things. Every once in a while a tangential project comes along like this:

Over ten years ago I won a stained glass lighthouse at the Nonsuch Rendezvous dinner in Boston. As far as I can figure it is modeled after the Absecon Lighthouse in New Jersey near Atlantic City:

Being real glass it's too fragile for use on the boat so for the last few years it has been used as nightlight in the bathroom. Where it guides this sailor to the right port in the night. Well, last week the 120 volt 5 watt incandescent bulb that lights it internally burnt out.

Now I could have probably found another bulb and replaced it. But, then it would still have to be turned on manually and it would still be powered by plugging it into the electric grid. Costing money as part of the monthly electric bill. A small issue but, one of my mottos is "if you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves". Also having electric propulsion on board has made me more aware of where the energy one uses comes from. Plus I've already built and have used for several years a solar powered whole house lighting system. Hmmm, why not replace the incandescent lamp in the night light lighthouse with an LED bulb and hook it into the solar powered lighting system? Why nor indeed!
I had a few spare 3 LED Module 12 volt White Waterproof Lights  sitting around that I've used around the house and also on the boat. So I put one inside the lighthouse and connected it up to the 12 solar powered house lighting system.

Now when dusk comes the lighthouse light comes on just like the big boys:

 I never have to turn it on since the solar light controller does that automatically and it is greener and more efficient than the old incandescent bulb. Plus it is not longer taking any green paper out of my wallet as part of the electric bill. A win, win, win situation. I like that.

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT CONTINUED

I continue to work and improve on BIANKA's solar bimini. One of priority projects is to replace the clear Plexiglas sheet between the two forward solar panels. This transparent sheet does two things. It helps prevent water from coming down into the main hatch and also allows me to observe the sail as I am raising it. If you have a bimini or dodger made of Sunbrella fabric it will prevent you from seeing the sail unless you have a window sewn into it. 
As I mentioned the clear plexiglass sheet I installed last year  needed to be replaced because it cracked during Hurricane Irene. This time I decided to use Lexan which is stronger and more UV resistant. I found a suitable sized piece in stock at a local Home Depot store. It just need some minor trimming. I also used a few pieces of 1/8" thick aluminum bar I had not used on the solar panel mounting system because I found them too thin to support the solar panels. But, as a  support for the Lexan piece they would be perfect to use.
I've mentioned before how useful having a roll of  Scotch 8981 Filament Tape on board is:

I've used it as strapping to support the solar bimini frame as I was fabricating it. I also found it useful in this project to temporarily secure the aluminum support bars to the bimini frame while I trimmed the Lexan piece and before I fixed them in place permanently:

The filament tape is much stronger than many other tapes and holds very good with minimum residue when you remove it. Once I had the Lexan piece trimmed to fit between the panels I laid it over the support bars and secured it with screws to the solar bimini frame:

I have not yet removed the protective backing material from the Lexan sheet in the above photo but, you get the idea. I'm not yet done with my plans for the solar bimini on BIANKA. But, that project will have to wait for a later date. In the meantime the solar bimini provides both shelter and energy on board and that's a good thing.

SOLAR BIMINI PART SEVEN: PANELS INSTALLED

In thinking about the design for Bianka's solar bimini I had a eureka moment when it came to mounting the rear bimini solar panels. That was to use 1/4 inch aluminum bars to support the panels and clamps around the tubular frames to secure them to the frame tubing.

It was a simple and elegant solution and one that I also eventually incorporated to the existing 12 volt solar panels already installed on the dodger. These were attached to angle brackets as show below:

But, the aluminum strap method I came up with to install the 48 volt Kanaka Solar panels for the solar bimini is much better way to secure the panels as well as being easier to install from my experience.

The above photo shows the two mounting techniques I used. The aluminium bar and strap method on the left for the Kanka 48 volt panels on the solar bimini and the former jaw hinge and angle bracket method on the right.

The above photo shows the clamps I used to secure the rear aluminum bars to the one inch rear frame. The lengths are different because I did not have enough clamps and ran out to Home Depot to get an additional clamp. They will later be trimmed with a Dremel Tool.

The above shows a hole I just drilled to mount the Kanaka solar panels frame to the aluminum bar. Note the clamp to hold the aluminium bar and panel frame together. Also note the block of wood to intercept the drill bit as it breaks through. You really do not want to take a chance that you will drill through the solar panel. It will ruin your day and the solar panel.

The above photo shows the panels mounted to the bimini frame. The curve of the frames also allows for water to drain out to the side of the cockpit.

The photo above is from below in the cockpit showing the two of four aluminium bars holding up the panels to the frame.

Above is another view looking aft.

I like the aluminum bar design so much that I also modified the forward 12 volt solar panels to use this attachment method too. Attaching the solar bimini to the forward dodger using the bars has also added more rigidity to each frame. So far the combination has survived two brushes with category one hurricanes as well as protection from sun and rain for those in the cockpit in normal conditions. I will be adding some additional features to the bimini in the future. But, for now the solar bimini  project has been completed and is a complete success as far as I am concerned.

PREVIOUS SOLAR BIMINI POST

SOLAR BIMINI PART THREE: A plan comes together!

Let's see where was I. Oh yeah, back in August I was explaining how plan B of the solar dodger project came to fruition. That was before preparations for Hurricane Irene interrupted my train of thought. Now it's time to revisit the Solar Bimini Project on BIANKA.  I had been wanting to use my 75 watt solar  panels to replace the vinyl worn dodger material and had been somewhat successfully done that using the boats existing dodger frame. As explained here and here.

But, now I also wanted to extend it to create a bimini over the cockpit using the new 48 volt solar panels I had bought to help charge the electric propulsion battery bank.  BIANKA never had a bimini. It previously only had an extension of vinyl material that could be zipped to the existing vinyl dodger and even then this could only  be used while at anchor because it interfered with the mainsheet on my Nonsuch.

So if I wanted to have a permanent solar bimini it meant I would have to build a custom frame for it. I thought about how to do this and some things I wanted and some of the limitations I would need to overcome. After sipping  a beer in the cockpit I came up with this list of what I wanted:

1) I wanted to be able to stand at the helm without hitting my head on the dodger as lifted my six foot two inch frame up in one of those "what the hell is that" situations when sailing along.

2) I also wanted to have easy access to leave the cockpit to go forward on the deck. So I did not want a lot of frame tubing in the way hindering me in those situations.

After a lot of thought I came up with a plan that met my needs. The major piece would be a bow frame. I was able to get this from Sailrite a wonderful source for all things a sailor might need for sails, dodgers and biminis. One of the dilemmas I had was about where to install this frame. Should it attach on top of the cockpit coaming like the existing dodger did or should it land on the deck outside the coaming. I decided that it would be better to have it land outside the cockpit coaming. My reasoning was if things got nasty and the boat was bouncing around having the bimini frame mounted on the cockpit coaming could allow a persons head to hit it. Leading to at minimum a painful bump or worse unconsciousness.

Who needs that!  While I debated about where to mount the frame I went ahead and  ordered a one inch diameter long bow stainless steel frame kit from Sailrite. It comes in three pieces. Two side pieces and the top piece. According to the description:

"All tubing bows are prebent in a custom jig mounted on a wall in our shop. To keep shipping reasonable and to allow for greater customization, the bows are cut just beyond each bend creating three sections — two curved and one crowned. The crown in the center bow increases rigidity and improves the appearance of the finished cover. Assemble the three pieces by inserting splines and riveting in place. Once assembled, the bow has more strength than the uncut original."

I also ordered a real handy jig for helping to drill into into the stainless steel tubing for the rivit holes. The Sailrite catalog says "it's not required" but, if you have ever tried to drill into stainless steel tubing you know it can be a real pain.  The Drill Steady Tubing Tool really made drilling into the one inch frame tubing real easy as shown in this Sailrite video:

I recommend it if you should ever need to drill a hole into the stainless steel tubing on your boat. 
The final piece I needed to complete mounting the frame was some way to attach the frame to the boat. I chose a 90 degree stanchion base fittings to secure the one inch frame tubing to the deck:

With these pieces I was able to move onto phase one of building the solar bimini on board BIANKA.

 SOLAR BIMINI PART FOUR


PREVIOUS POSTS ON THIS PROJECT

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT PART ONE: PLAN A

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT PART TWO: PLAN B

SOLAR BIMINI: PART TWO: Plan B!

Well the first idea of using the existing dodger frame to mount the solar panels worked out well for a few years:

The sail cleared it fine when tacking. I installed some Lexan in between the panels which not only helped keep things dry under the hatch but also allowed me to view the sail as I raised it. I was happy with this plan until one of the hanger lines broke and dropped the sail a few inches and a reefing line I suspect grabbed a corner of the solar panel and broke the 1" aluminium angle used to hold the solar panel. Time for Plan B.

Plan B was to lower the solar panels so they did sit so high above the stainless steel frame where an errant line could once again grab it. To do this required I buy a few more jaw slide hinges. But, letting the jaws hang below the frame instead of above as shown here:

I then cut up the remaining aluminum angle into four pieces:

I drilled  mounting holes so they could be attached to the jaw slides and they would cradle the solar panels in between the dodger frame and not above it:

This was a better idea and there was less chance of a line getting caught on a panel compared to the first setup. It is not perfect because the stainless steel frame of the dodger is lightly curved and the aluminum angle is straight so there was some distortion in trying to mount the solar panels to the aluminum angle but, it can be done.  This was phase one of the project. When I added some additional panels to make a solar bimini over the cockpit and provide the panels that would help charge my electric propulsion system I came on an even better solution to mount the panels.

SOLAR BIMINI PROJECT PART THREE Click here.

SOLAR BIMINI: PART ONE: Plan A!

When I bought BIANKA in 1995 it came with a nice heavy duty vinyl coated dodger with windows:

It also had an extension that could be zipped onto the back of the dodger when at anchor. Which also had sides to enclose the cockpit if one wanted too:

It offered real nice protection from the elements but, was also hot in summer because it blocked the refreshing breeze when the windows were installed. Though you could unzip them and roll them up which I often did. Like many things on a boat exposed to the sun and elements it deteriorated over time. Zippers break, threads wear out, plastic glass windows crack etc... I restitched things a few times but, eventually it became time to replace it. As I pondered what I would replace it with I started thinking about durability. Sunbrella is often the fabric used by most boatowners but, it always seemed to me that in a few years that would have to be replaced again too. Around this time I was also thinking about adding some solar panels. Hmmm. I wondered. Why don't people use solar panels instead of fabric for the tops of dodgers? Why not indeed! It is much sturdier and would last much longer than fabric and it would also serve to provide power to help charge the battery bank. A dual purpose solution always works for me. So I decided to go about replacing the worn vinyl dodger with a solar powered one.

I wanted to use the existing dodger frame. It seemed sturdy enough to hold the two 75 watt Seimens solar panels I bought. At four feet long they were just about the perfect size to fit on top of the dodger frame on the port and starbord sides. There might be a little shading on occassion from the sail and boom on one of the panels but, at least one panel would probably be in full sun during much of the day. If I got anal about it I could tie the sail off to one side and get both panels in the sun if I wanted. This is starting to sound like a plan.

At first I thought I would drill holes through the frame and attach the panels directly to them. But, I found that drilling trough stainless steel is pretty hard and I thought holes might weaken the frame a little too much so I abandoned that idea early on. I then came up with what I thoughT was the perfect solution. I would use hinged jaw slides to clamp around the 7/8" dodger frame and install the solar panels to them. I then thought I could save a little money and use less clamps if I use two pieces of aluminium angle to mount the solar panels onto before attaching the brackets to the clamps. The advantage to this is I would only need four of the hinged jaw slides for the whole dodger instead of four for each panel like I originaly thought. So that was plan A:

This worked out well for a number of years sailing in all kinds of conditions and weather until last year. When a broken hanger line grabbed the edge of one the solar panels and broke the aluminum bracket holding the solar panel almost taking it over the side. Resulting in a scramble by me to do some serious damage control since I was sailing solo in near gale conditions at the time. Well so much for that idea! It's time to move on to "Plan B".

SOLAR BIMINI PART TWO CLICK HERE