Tag: Longi Solar panels

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How to install an 800W+ Solar system on a Canal Boat

Our system cost well under £800 including some high quality tilting solar mounts and extra large solar panels (425 Watts each).

Two Longi Solar 435WP panels mounted on Semi-Permanent Adjustable Mountings from Midsummer Energy
Panels Tilted for maximum power early in the morning

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.

Two Longi Solar 435WP panels mounted on Semi-Permanent Adjustable Mountings from Midsummer Energy
Low profile when folded flat

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.

Coudy day with panels tilted towards the sun as reported by the Victron App.
Coudy day with panels tilted

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

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Planning for Solar Panels part 8 – Buying Solar Panels and Mountings

When looking at Solar Panels I wanted a know brand and also ones with a strong thick tempered glass top, many of the people I had spoken to about the panels installed on their boats mentioned how easily they flexed and therefore worried about their ultimate strength (This could be a even bigger problem with tillable mountings?).

I had discovered while trawling the data sheets for solar panels, that they seemed to come with two different thicknesses of tempered glass, the cheaper ones had 1.6mm glass while generally the more expensive had 3.2mm glass.

I also noticed the ranges available for the cheap panels changed almost weekly, I would find and interesting panel and just a few days later they would vanish from stock.

In the end I decided to go with City Plumping, who always had stock available at some very good prices. I selected 2 of their 435W panels (LR5-54HTH-435M) from Longi Solar at £91.76 (£110.11 inc VAT) each.

435W panels (LR5-54HTH-435M) from Longi Solar

Best bit about ordering from City Plumping was free delivery 🙂 I had been quoted £50 for delivery and often at a price almost double for the same spec (lets hope I got a bargain).

Now that I know the panels are ordered and I have the final size of the panels, I can order the mounting and after much debate and costing up alternative solutions, I have ended up ordering the Semi-Permanent Adjustable Mounting from Midsummer, they cut them to length before shipping ready for me to install.

My panels are much larger, but the mounting will be like this.

After I placed the order online with Midsummer, I followed the order up and sent over a copy of the panels data sheet, which included all the dimensions they needed. Very quickly I got a response to says they had got what they needed and it would all ship ASAP.

I did also check with the Marina (Droitwich Spa Marina) that they would be happy to hold onto the panels for me, I would not be visiting for a week. As normal they could not be more helpful, always a good experience.

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

Safety Disclaimer

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