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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FREE GIFT to you, CLICK HERE: https://bit.ly/3uSmHhI Subscribe to our YouTube Channel at https://bit.ly/3ta7Hv6 From the Arctic to the Aeolian islands: Sailing around the world with a catamaran. Recommended Books: https://amzn.to/485q9DG 'Sailing a Serious Ocean' https://amzn.to/3UumDzy 'The Complete Sailor' In full transparency, please note that the links in this video description may be affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. You don't pay more when using these links, and any earnings help to support this channel. I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my audience. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising." Thank you for your trust and support!

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Yacht ACIONNA 🛥️, a synonym of perfection! A professionally crewed San Lorenzo 80'. ACIONNA can be chartered in the Greek 🇬🇷 islands 🌴☀️ accomodating up to 9 guests in 4 cabins. Weekly rates from €35,000 plus expenses. Check availability at https://www.yachtissimo.com

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На фоне череды штормов на нашей яхте для Джеймса открылось "Окно Возможностей" он быстро этим поспешил воспользоваться)))

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A clip from our latest video where we visited Saba ……… here's a link to the full video below. https://youtu.be/O8ZS58vGphc If you want to binge watch here is a link to our first season playlist 2023 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTnjHpfUuECUAA8rwRSxxMvqq9EMx_MR8 and our 2024/25 season one is here, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTnjHpfUuECW7zdkJqoO7suNGfxh8lHRc Hi All, Welcome to our channel, We are Andrew and Irene a middle aged (well not sure what age range that encompasses nowadays ) couple pursuing an adventure on the high seas. We sail on the good ship Saracen, a Beneteau Oceanis 473 from 2006. Out journey started in Scotland in early 2023 and our ultimate goal is to sail around the globe …..slowly. We make these videos mostly for family and friends and to create a record of our adventures for ourselves so that we can look back at them later in life, were not in it to make money (way to hard). Thanks for taking an interest and please remember to leave a like, comment and subscribe to our channel, as this helps push the algorithm as we strive to boost our viewers. We also write a blog which can be found here https://www.sailblogs.com/member/saracen/ Link to our noforeignland boat page https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/6490851356180480 Instagram http://www.instagram.com/andrew.campbell386 Equipment used DJI Action 4 DJI Pocket 3 DJI Mini 3 DJI Mini Mic DJI Mic 2 Canon R50V Davinci Resolve (free version) #SVSaracenstravels #sailinglife #sailing #yachts #sailingaroundtheworld #liveaboardlife #liveaboard #beneteau #oceanis473 #caribbean #yachting #sailingcouple #sailingcaribbean #cruiser #crusinglifestyle #retired #travellingcouple #wanderlust #explore

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