Solar Power Marine | Home : Marine renewable technology system design and products

Solar Power Marine

Solar Power Marine, with over 20 years of experience, offers professional renewable technology system design and installation of quality products.

As you probably already know, solar powered boats are quickly becoming a hot commodity among anyone who is serious about saving energy. It's safe to assume that solar power is the leading source of renewable energy. Many homes and business all across the globe have started the conversion. With the help of solar panels, energy bills have been slashed in half and folks are looking at more ways to take advantage of this ingenious way of life.

Solar Power

Power your boat without the negative environmental impact of running an engine at anchor. Solar powered boats have all the power needed to live comfortably aboard for a week, a month or years, all provided by a few solar panels.

No more starting the engine and polluting pristine anchorages with carbon emissions and noise. A solar powered boat silently soaks up the sun and converts it to clean energy that powers all of your necessities. Some of the benefits of a solar powered boat are :

Fuel savings.
Doesn't increase engine hours.
Blessed silence for you and your neighbors.
No carbon emissions.
No moving parts to fail

Here's what you'll need to turn your vessel into a solar powered boat.

Solar panels
Deep cycle batteries (lead acid or gel cell)
Charge controller - the charge controller prevents the batteries from becoming over or under charged. Also called a regulator.
Inverter - if you use electronics that require 110V the inverter will convert the 12V (which is what the panels produce) into 110V (which is what your computer and most of your appliances want)
Assorted wire, hardware and fittings

The number and size of solar panels required depends on how much electricity an individual boat uses.

Factors that influence the number of watts required :

Electrical equipment on board
Where the boat is located
Time of year (the angle of the sun)
Refrigeration.
Water temperature
Air temperature

The closer you are located to the equator the more of the sun's rays strike the panels. This obviously translates into more power production per panel. The panels work most efficiently when the sun is high overhead (10 am to 3 pm).
A sailboat equipped with solar panels is the ultimate portable solar power system.
People are starting to think about being more friendly to the environment with everything they do, and that includes their recreational activities. Now there are so many ways to solar power a boat, that there’s really no reason not to!

Wind Power

For sailboats and sailing yachts, keeping the batteries charged is an important challenge. Wind generators for yachts have become a popular option to provide electrical power in an environmentally friendly manner. Sailboats, by definition, are subject to steady winds that can be used by wind generators to charge up the onboard batteries. Currently there is a good selection of options for someone looking for a wind generator yacht.

Wind generators for use on a yacht or sailboat should meet a certain set of criteria :

operate very quietly - virtually corrosion proof - simple to service and parts are available worldwide - rugged enough to operate in a gale.

A marine wind generator can supply energy on demand and/or top off your batteries when the boat is not in use. With wind power, the alternator becomes a backup system.