Common advice tells you to calculate your likely electrical needs on the boat. It’s a great starting point. But it doesn’t cover everything you’ll need to power all your needs with solar panels.
Prefer to read? Check out How Much Solar Power Do You Need?
Pantry in Paradise. As cruisers, we’ve all experienced “LOB”, or lost on board. You know you have something, like a can of mushroom soup, but you just can’t find it. Enter Pantry in Paradise, your go-to app for galley management. Pantry in Paradise tracks your provisions, where they’re stored, and creates your next shopping list. Provision for guests or even extra weeks. Find Pantry in Paradise in the App Store!
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Music: “Slow Down” by Yvette Craig
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
Mike McCollough says
We have had 2.4 KW of solar power on our house for over 10 years. After looking at many days and years of data I use the following formula to calculate solar output, 75% of rated output for 5 hrs a day. A 360 W 12V system would produce 112 A per day of which 1/2 will go to replenishing the batteries from last nights usage and 1/2 would be available for daytime usage. $.02