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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Sail&Surf Pollensa - Deine Segelschule auf Mallorca Folgt uns bei unseren Wöchentlichen Erlebnissen hier an der Segelschule. Holt Euch ein wenig Urlaub nach Hause. Für alle die uns vermissen oder kennenlernen möchten. Abonniert unsere Kanal oder verfolgt uns auf Facebook. www.sailsurf.de info@sailsurf.de Facebook: http://on.fb.me/SaDMf8

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Sunset flightboard

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😍Amazing encounter with nature! ⚓️Today our Magic & Sailing sailor had an unforgettable experience spotting a pod of dolphins swimming freely near Jandia Natural Park in Fuerteventura. ⛵️Her excitement was contagious, and we captured every moment to share it with you. Don't miss this thrilling encounter with marine life! 😍¡Increíble encuentro con la naturaleza! ⚓️Hoy nuestra marinera de Magic & Sailing tuvo una experiencia inolvidable al avistar una manada de delfines en libertad cerca del parque natural de Jandia en Fuerteventura. ⛵️Su emoción fue contagiosa y capturamos cada momento para compartirlo contigo. ¡No te pierdas este emocionante encuentro con la vida marina! #magicandsailing 👉Book now at www.magicandsailing.com 📱+34 630 975 023 #fuerteventura #dolphin #whales #wildlife #nature #animals #holidays #canarias #magicdeluxe #swimming #ocean #tour #travel #animalshorts

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Hey boating fans, who else loves life on the water? Professional baseball's Roy Halladay does. When not on the mound, this All-Star pitcher and Cy Young Award winner can be found on his boat in Florida fishing, cruising and enjoying the boating lifestyle. He's one of the best pitchers in the game today and loves two of America's favorite pastimes -- baseball and boating.

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