UK Canal Maps and our Canal Boating Blog
Using the map points we have in our maps database we have built some maps that cover a selected route, at the moment we have created maps for The Avon Ring and The Cheshire Ring.
Over the next few months we will try to complete a few more of the more popular rings, as well as adding more map points.
Lots of events on soon including:-
Norbury Canal Festival – 4th to 6th May 2024
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2878
St Richard’s Canal Festival (Droitwich) 3 to 7 May 2024
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2883
IWA Canalway Cavalcade (Little Venice Paddington London) 4th to 6th May 2024
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2891
Electrika – 3rd to 4th May 2024 Oxford Canal Electric Narrowboat show Brinklow
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2921
RCTA Berkhamsted May Day BH Floating Market – 4 to 6th May
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2935
South Pennine Boat Club Open Day – 5th May 2024 River Calder
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2989
Canal Spring Festival – 14th May 2024 Cotswold Canals
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2932
BCNS and Longwood Boat Club Rally – 17 to 19 May 2024 Rushall Canal
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2951
Floating Fayre Bathampton 18-19th May 2024 Kennet and Avon Canal
see https://floydtilla.co.uk/uk-canal-festivals-map/?marker=2984
Our system cost well under £800 including some high quality tilting solar mounts and extra large solar panels (425 Watts each).
We did do a lot of planning and research when building this system and we will still be taking advice and measuring the performance (and reporting back our findings), but so far things are working very well and we are now disconnected from the expensive marina power.
You can see our parts list of items here, but this excludes some basic tools, like a good electric drill and a M8 tap set.
In the parts list I have included the suppliers details and in the articles listed below we explain the choices we made and why and also list any alternative suppliers and parts you may wish to consider.
For us a low profile system was essential as we are near one of the lowest bridges on the network where the Droitwich Canal goes under the M5 motorway. Using a tilting system we hoped to be able to harvest the most power when needed while maintaining a low profile.
As you can see our plank and rear hatch are probably higher than the panels when lowered.
Over the next few months we will try to tilt the panels and record how much more power we can get during a normal day, but currently our first tests showed a 2-3 fold increase in power during the start and end of the day with the panels tilted towards the sun.
Below is a list of the articles we wrote during the development of our installation:-
Planning for Solar Panels – Part 1
Planning for Solar Panels Part 2 – Panel Mounting Options
Planning for Solar Panels Part 3 – Types of Panels
Planning for Solar Panels Part 4 – MPPT vs PWM solar controllers
Planning for Solar Panels part 5 – Cable sizes, lengths and resistance.
Planning for Solar Panels part 6 – Panels in Serial or Parallel
Planning for Solar Panels part 7 – Buying the cable and Circuit breakers
Planning for Solar Panels part 8 – Buying Solar Panels and Mountings
Planning for Solar Panels part 9 – Wiring
Planning for Solar Panels part 10 – Drilling, Tapping and Fitting
Please read our Safety Disclaimer
A simple fix to the roof getting scratched by the tilting system for the solar panels was to add some rubber feet, I used Adam Hall Hardware 4903 M4 Rubber feet which are 9mm tall and 20mm wide.
I also replaced the nuts of the arms with the Nylock versions, so save them vibrating loose.
After much reseach we have built up a kit of parts to install our 870W solar panels on the roof or our narrow boat, I will need to add a few cables and some mounting wood plates.
| Image | Description | Price | ||
 |
Longi Solar 435WP Black Frame PV Module LR5-54HTH-435M Selected as they have a 3.2mm glass rather that the much cheaper 1.6mm and provide almost the maximum output when combined for the Victron SmartSolar MTTP 100|50 MPPT solar controller. Ordered 2 from City Plumping, they deliver free next day from stock, for £91.76 (£110.11 inc VAT) each. (Prices have dropped since) |
£220.22 | ||
 |
Semi-Permanent Adjustable Mounting Set for Narrow Boats |
£196.00 | ||
 |
Victron SmartSolar MTTP 100|50 Ordered from Nomadic Conversions eBay shop |
£220.00 | ||
 |
Solar PC Cable 25m Red and 25m Black 6mm Solar PV Cable from Superlec Direct at £1.19 per meter. |
£59.50 | ||
 |
WYLEX 100A DP ISOLATOR WITH ENCLOSURE (321FR) Wall mounted 100 amp isolator from Screwfix Direct |
£20.49 | ||
 |
Water proof cable access IP68 Waterproof cable access, designed for Solar Installations Scanstrut DS-HD6-BLK Horizontal Double Cable Seal – Black |
£9.99 | ||
 |
Circuit Breakers / Fuses |
£14.99 | ||
 |
Solar Connectors See video on installing MC4 connectors |
£3.48 | ||
 |
Misc Bits 1 off 6.1mm Drill bit |
£20.00 | ||
| Total (Inc VAT) | £768.15 | |||
There will be some additional cost from Steve for his time, so I would expect this to have cost approx £1000.00 when complete, but cost have been falling even over the past 6 months.
Also see
Planning for Solar Panels – Part 1
Planning for Solar Panels Part 2 – Panel Mounting Options
Planning for Solar Panels Part 3 – Types of Panels
Planning for Solar Panels Part 4 – MPPT vs PWM solar controllers
Planning for Solar Panels part 5 – Cable sizes, lengths and resistance.
Planning for Solar Panels part 6 – Panels in Serial or Parallel
Planning for Solar Panels part 7 – Buying the cable and Circuit breakers
Planning for Solar Panels part 8 – Buying Solar Panels and Mountings
Planning for Solar Panels part 9 – Wiring
Planning for Solar Panels part 10 – Drilling, Tapping and Fitting