Once you’ve minimized your electrical use through efficiency, it’s time to ensure you’re getting the most from your solar panels. Here are a few tips for getting more from your solar panels.
Can You Live Entirely on Solar Energy?
On both our boats, we lived almost entirely on the electricity generated by our solar panels. Our first boat, a Tayana 37, had 453 watts of solar. Our catamaran, Barefoot Gal, had 345 watts in one large panel. After upgrading to new panels and regulators, we found them much more efficient. In addition, swapping in LEDs and purchasing a more efficient watermaker and refrigerator significantly decreased our power demands.
Getting the Most From Solar Panels
We tried to get every possible amp-hour out of our panels. Some of these tips are things we did for a long time. Others are refinements we developed over the years.
Keep Panels Clean
If it hasn’t rained in a while, take a damp rag and wipe the panels off. You’ll be surprised at how dusty they get!
A little dust can noticeably decrease efficiency.
Find the Best Angle
If your panels tilt, readjust them a few times a day to get the best sun angle and fewest shadows. Once we made an adjustment, we tied lines to two edges of the panel to keep them at the preferred angle. Adjusting the lines became part of our procedure for adjusting the panels.
If we were going to be away for the day, we found that adjusting the panels level with the horizon was the best compromise.
Fellow cruiser Bruce has another suggestion. He says that if you are in a place with consistent winds (like the trades) and the boat tends to point in the same direction, tilt the panels a bit to the North or South depending on the time of year and the hemisphere you’re in. You’ll find it definitely increases output.
Avoid Shade
If you have panels on your dodger or bimini, use a boom brake or preventer when at anchor to “wing out” the boom so it’s not shading the panels. Shade decreases solar panel efficiency even more than an overcast sky.
Our friends Tammy and Bruce on Dos Libras suggested another refinement for days when it’s impossible to get good solar production because the wind direction is putting big shadows across the panels. They used a snubber tied from their stern to their anchor line to turn the boat sufficiently so that the panels got full sun!
Plan Ahead
Our last refinement was to check the weather forecast every evening for the expected wind in the morning. We’d tilt the panels accordingly instead of just leaving them where they were at sunset. This gave us an extra 5 to 10 amp-hours a day instead of doing it after we woke up.
Little Moves Add Up
An extra 5 to 10 Ah may not feel like much, but when you’re already a light electrical user, it can make a big difference. Add these suggestions to your boat routines, and you’ll find your solar panels producing more power for you.
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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.
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