1) Understanding your energy needs is essential to determine how much solar you need. Start by making an "energy budget". List all your consumers and their daily usage. For example, if your LED lights use 1W per bulb and you have eight bulbs on for 5 hours a day, that would be 8 Watts for 5 hours or (8x5) 40 Wh (Watt hours). I like to use kWh to keep things consistent. 40 Wh = 0.040 kWh. It's a good idea to list what you're using while at anchor and another list of what you're using while underway (for instance, you don't use your autopilot at anchor). Remember to list everything: fridge, freezer, watermaker, autopilot, nav lights, chart plotters, etc. For example, here aboard Athena, with an electric galley, fridge, freezer, watermaker, two computers, etc, we use an average of 5.5 kWh per day. 2) To give you a quick estimate, use https://globalsolaratlas.info/ to find "Global horizontal irradiation" per day for your location. Take your daily energy consumption from step 1 and divide that by the number of solar hours. In the case of Athena, located in the Caribbean, that would be 5.5kWh per day / 5 sun hours = 1.1 kW solar array. Keep in mind that this is a theoretical number that does not take into account the shading or degradation of the panels over time. Let's add 30%. 1.1 x 1.3 = 1.43 kW. You can now divide that number by the panel's Nominal Power output. In the case of Athena, our panels are 400W SunPower panels. 1430W / 400W = 3.6 panels needed to cover our 5.5 kWh per day consumption. 3) Understand that the amount of solar you can install on a small sailboat is limited by the size of the boat and heavily influenced by shading and, of course, the boat's location. The size of the panels might also be defined by the height of your stanchions or the size of an existing solar arch. Figure out where you're able and willing to install panels. That will dictate the size and number of panels. 4) Use Victron Energy's MPPT Calculator to calculate what MPPT is ideally sized for your solar panels and expected output based on location. Based on our experience in the Caribbean, the estimate provided by the guide is reasonable. https://www.victronenergy.com/mppt-calculator. Remember that it's best practice to avoid combining panels with different specs on the same MPPT. #sailboat #sailboatproject #boatwork #saillife #liveaboard #liveaboardlife #saltlife #sailing #sailingadventure #travel ingcouple #livingonaboat #solar #sailboatsolar

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Every time dolphins grace us with their presence we rush to the bow and say hi. What always amazes me is when they jump out or turn sideways and look you in the eye. Such a connection is priceless! Follow us if you’re interested in living the sailing cruiser life. #sailinglife #sailingexperience #sailingadventures

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Hay dos momentos mágicos cada día. El amanecer y el atardecer. Si los ves con una brisa de mar navegando a vela, no hay mejor momento. Las rías baixas tienen la particularidad de que el horizonte se junta con la mar por el oeste. Esto hace que las puestas de sol sean perfectas. Ven conmigo a navegar y verás tu puesta de sol conmigo. Si te ha gustado el vídeo 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐫í𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥 👍 Así nos ayudas a generar más contenido para ti... los amantes de la navegación y del mar. Y si le das a la campanita 🔔 ya alucino... se nos caerán unas cuantas lagrimillas. También nos puedes seguir en otras plataformas: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEj3jQf5L9r_LMk_oak6Tqw 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 - https://www.instagram.com/sailingtxemacapitan_oficial 𝐓𝐢𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐤 - https://www.tiktok.com/@sailingtxemacapitan 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 - https://facebook.com/SailingTxemacapitan Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/txema-iglesias/

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"You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it. You are stronger than you think." Sail with US... Sail with US Sailing. #SailStrong #SailwithUS - https://www.ussailing.org/membership/

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BGYB is pleased to share an exclusive video of the sailing yacht WHIMSY at the Palma International Boat Show 2025! Discover WHIMSY, a 23.98-meter performance sloop that combines timeless design, optimal comfort, and cutting-edge technology. Designed by renowned naval architect Philippe Briand and featuring a refined interior by Franck Darnet Design, WHIMSY perfectly embodies the balance between luxury and performance. Asking Price: EUR 1.390.000 On sale at BGYB: https://www.bernard-gallay.com/buy-yacht-for-sale/whimsy 💻https://www.bernard-gallay.com 📩assistant@bernard-gallay.com 📞+33 (0)4 67 66 39 93 #sailing #sailingyacht #sailingyachtforsale #racing #racingyachtforsale #yachtforsale #yachting #voilier #voilieravendre #boat #boatforsale #luxury #bgyb #bernardgallay #luxe #luxuryyacht #brokerage #sailingyachtforsale #luxurysailingyacht #whimsy #performancesloop

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