Choosing and Installing our Solar Panel! [Solbian 130W Flexible Panel]

After making a list of what we needed in a solar panel and carefully weighing our options, we decided to go with a SP 130 flexible solar panel from Solbian, along with a 75/15 MPPT controller from Victron. (We do NOT get any affiliate money from these links, just FYI!)
Solar panel: www.solbian.eu/en/5-sp-series
MPPT: www.solbian.eu/en/victron-ene...
The excellent “marine how to” website has long been our source for really thorough advice, especially on electrical matters. Rod Collins runs the site, and he’s an “ABYC Certified Marine Electrical Systems Specialist.” Beyond the fancy title, he seems to have a real love to getting to the bottom of electrical questions, measuring every last detail, and making the safest, most reliable, and long-lasting choice. His site is what first got us curious about solbian panels, through this very thorough and nicely explained article, in which he also shows how to mount a flexible panel to a bimini using velcro: marinehowto.com/installing-a-...
A great review that explains how micro cracks in solar panels occur, what the dangers are, and how they can be prevented. A big point the article brings up is that micro cracking often occurs in the factory itself, or in transportation. review.solar/solar-panel-micr...
Solbian panels vs. competing panels: safety and performance under stress. This review is from the solbian website, so bias has to be taken into account. Also, the review was translated into English from Italian, so please account for some minor grammatical errors. However, to us, the ability of solbian panels to avoid hotspots and remain functional even under the extreme stress applied in this test proves that they are a more reliable AND far safer option than cheaper competitors. www.solbian.eu/en/blog/testin...
These videos are made possible by you. Check out our Patreon account to get access to Maya’s secret journal, early access to the videos, surprise handwritten letters delivered to your mailbox, the chance to meet us in person, AND our neverending undying gratitude! www.patreon.com/user?u=13249792
Check out our website to learn more about us: sailingmagiccarpet.com/
If you’d like to support us but patreon isn’t your thing, you can make a one time donation via PayPal, and we will send you many thanks in return!! www.paypal.com/paypalme2/TheM...
Check out Maya’s music on Spotify and iTunes!
SPOTIFY:
open.spotify.com/artist/3ypa1...
iTUNES:
/ maya-eliza
CAMERA GEAR WE USE: (when you purchase anything from these links, it costs you the same and we get a small commission!!)
Action cam 1: amzn.to/2Q0HK9j
Action cam 2: amzn.to/30g1pqI
Amazing, wonderful, inexpensive, superb main camera: amzn.to/2Q0HNlv
Drone: amzn.to/2Hj2lTO
Microphone for voice overs: amzn.to/30jO8Nw

[@gus2747]

I'm not a sailing guy - or a solar power guy - but I like good videos. Yours are great! Calming and intelligent and beautiful.

[@urlkrueger]

At 7:00; Now THAT's a sewing needle! Fantastic job Aladino in explaining how to install connector on wire, and all other installation.

[@klouism1]

Very Happy for you. Solar is such a help. I full time in a truck camper & have 400 watts of solar on the roof. What a huge help that is for me. Thank you for the video.

[@clarisd]

He dances like a kid in a candy shop! Thank you for the video, I did not notice this SP on the bimini until this vid. Also I noticed one change over time, you used to say my boyfriend and I and now it is my husband, has anyone else heard this change and have you two married? If you were to ask me, you are on the seas and oceans together you are married, for each hour of every day is the total trust of "my life is in your hands" both of you make that pledge every day, even if it is not spoken and I can not think of any better way to be, two that becomes one! Thank you for the efforts of producing your channel!

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

Thanks for always watching and commenting Claris! No change though, we’ve been married since we started this channel!

[@bevtrue6937]

Beautiful. Great job Aladino!!

[@gerardwall8847]

To David Turner, we had ours installed by Barrenjoey Marine Electrical in Pittwater (SYD). I’m sure they would have a contact for you in a Brisbane! Cheers Gerard

[@davethemmp3763]

Great install guys once again Aladino’s boat skills prevail nice canvas work.

[@dextersxxxxlab]

We use a flexible solar panel of 100 watt with a pwm charger on our maxum 1900 sports cuddy speedboat. We use the boat for watersports but also for overnight trips. Some even two or three nights. We like to carry our food and drinks cool and a 12v peltier car fridge is doing the job in combination with an old extra car battery and the solar panel. When underway we take the panel in the cuddy since cruising speed would break it. The panel is mounted with quick adjusting ropes and clamps to make it easy to shift the panel and keep it pointed to the sun when at anchor. The panel puts out more than the fridge will use. So during the day we are good. In the evening we run it for half an hour every hour and a half. Until we go to bed. And by then the panel will be pointing the direction the sun will come up. So at first sun we get power. The first to be awake will switch the fridge on. It is not perfect because of the cooling pause at night but for a few nights this method will be good enough to keep our food from spoiling. We bought a powered surfboard for kids and also charge it on solar power. Also rc jet boats or rc waterplane if I bring them on occasion. So yeah, solar power is cool. Helped us out big time. Better would be a compressor cooler. Much more efficient and better insulated but also bigger and much more expensive. Since this is a speedboat with a mini cuddy we do not have space for that and this works fine for our needs at the moment.

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

WOW, what an absolutely perfect video! Congrats! I loved to see Aladinos pure joy. Thanks a lot for making taping editing uploading sharing and last but not least for teaching. Best regards luck and health.

[@mds-lf3kl]

Hello dear MC Crew 😊 I can highly recommend the use of modern LiFePo Battery’s instead of traditional Lead Acid or Gel Battery’s. Weight is not much of a concern on a sailing vessel, but there is another very big advantage with lithium technology: They suck up every bit of juice as fast as it can be delivered. Even at 95% full the charge amps can be as high as 25A, where a traditional battery would already have limited itself to maybe 2 amps. The charging graph of a lead acid battery is a curve, that gets pretty shallow above 70%. With a Lithium cell, it is a straight line from dead to 99%. In practical case of use, a lithium battery is completely full in a fraction of time, compared to a traditional battery. So even short runtimes of the boats engine will boost the battery up to 100% again. I personally use a Super-B Epsilon 90Ah LiFePo, and my experience with it so far is fantastic. LiFePo Battery’s can also handle a much higher depth of discharge than lead acid battery’s. So 90Ah Lithium easily replaces 160Ah lead acid cells. At 12kg weight in total 👍

[@gary5831]

Wait until you have a full moon and check the voltage coming out of your panels. I have a few panels at home and on a full moon your can see a small amount of power coming out of the panels. Pretty cool. Nice video.

[@elisalyles1466]

I so love this. My 17 yo son and I are planning a solar installation for islander 36. We discussed it this afternoon and magic , magic carpet gave us great ideas. Thank you very much. We are in PNW so got to get best efficiency we can.

[@drreason2927]

The longer I watch, the more impressed I am with you both. It is very encouraging to see such talent and stability in even some of today's youth such as yourselves. (And he is much more impressive without a ponytail!). Great show!

[@scable-eq7bp]

Very informative video, nice install, maybe your next purchase should be a wind turbine, we have a 2000 watt Missouri Wind turbine on our Dana 24 and a 200 watt solar panel, both of these keep our battery bank charged very easily. I was hoping to hear Maya play some music she is so musically talented, not sure what direction she wants to take her music, but Maya just remember, " THERE IS NO EXPIRATION DATE ON YOUR DREAMS"........

[@angeloattard9748]

I have 150W which is very close to your choice. I have a fixed installation with hard panels. Same as yourselves I found it very useful and it helped putting my mind at rest concerning the availability of power. I left the installation running throughout the winter months to keep the charge on the batteries. It only needed cleaning occasionally. I still wonder how i did without the solar energy installation before all this. Best wishes with your system you will find it very useful for sure.

[@SVInLikeFlynn]

Fantastic video on this topic. I've been wanting to install Solbian solar panels for a few years now. I still work full time, so I'll be back to review this video when the retirement comes to cast the lines for long term sailing.

[@elliottmanning]

Excellent Video!!! from a retired journeyman electrician. Realy like your Monkeys Fist Knots!!!, used to make them for heaving lines in the olden days...

[@gerardwall8847]

Hey guys I loved your video and it was so comprehensive. I have had exactly the same solar panel on our Dufour 365 since 2013! You mentioned attaching the panel your way as well as Velcro. We ordered our Solbian with zips so that it zips straight into/onto the Bimini. Anyway any of these methods works. It is a great panel I think. We have teamed it with a Electic Energy (UK) D400 wind generator and even in winter our batteries are always at 100%. Happy sailing! Gerard (Paynesville; Australia)

[@davidturner8301]

Hi Gerard, may I enquire what store or website you purchased this brand of panel in Australia? I'm in Brisbane and hoping to add extra flexible solar panels to my sailing yacht soon

[@gerardwall8847]

David Turner Barrenjoey Marine Electrical David. They are in Pittwater just north of Sydney. I’m sure they’d have a contact for you in Brisbane. Cheers. Gerard

[@davidturner8301]

@@gerardwall8847 Ok thanks Gerard. I am familiar with that area as my mum lives in Lindfield and sister in St Ives.

[@Sirena_Edonismo]

Wonderful Video. I love the attention to detail and the quality of the installation. All the little added touches that you did makes for a really great job. Maya's narration is wonderfully detailed, yet concise and to the point. It was nice of Solbian to give you a discount on the panel, but after seeing your video I think they should hire you to do their instructional videos for every sale. I think the thing that I liked the most was Aladino's joy and enthusiasm for the solar panels. It's so nice to see how he appreciates the technology and the quality of the product. His skill in installation is the perfect compliment to the panel. Well done, Bravo!

[@user-us6ce7me8k]

Good to know! 👌👌

[@dlswede3912]

Another well done and informative video.

[@ddd228]

Aladino's English is REALLY good!

[@gloriaowensby1475]

Very Cool!!! I would Love to sail away like that! You guys did a great job and made a wonderful decision that is gonna save you money instantly! Free electricity from our Sun! Marvelous!

[@tymeryder7264]

Interesting and informative, well done.

[@saltysnoopy]

I love solar. I lived in my motorhome for years with 200 watts of solar and loved it. Now, finally on my boat, I have solar on the boat. I built a doghouse over the hatch and had 2 other spaces for 50 watt panels. My first set went south before I even used them :-( my second set is Lensun. They are semi flexible and adhered to the deck with Sikaflex 291. Solar is great.

[@JohnDoe-it1vq]

You guys have so much skill it is ridiculous.

[@markwoods1504]

I think the way forward for sailboats is either a marine diesel hybrid or going full electric it works as a lot of people are going that way now when they update or restore there bluewater sailboats. My late Grandmother always used to say you get what you pay for so your right don’t get cheap Chinese knockoffs .

[@treskir]

More power to you :)

[@lnewbyliveca]

Great tech episode

[@stephenkillick5812]

I also understand that when it is cloudy, the panels still charge, although not as fast as in full sunlight

[@nicjacobson8477]

Great video I loved it

[@DominicNSX]

You may add two smaller panels on the other side of the Bimini! Next, electric outboard from ePropulsion, bought one recently and they are absolutely amazing!

[@75echo]

Nice one. I have the same victron controller and I’m very satisfied with it. You can also buy a little Bluetooth addition that gives you a very detailed information, amongst which is a status and history of how much energy it has made over the last few weeks and how much you are using.

[@marcwouters6059]

Cool video and tech. boat stuff .

[@nicks3742]

Very cool video thank you

[@Hunter-ym2kk]

such a goof ball, but Aladino does enjoy his craft.. great video.. show me the diamond knot ... how to make..

[@MrROBBIE1953]

it is worse with ac but you still get the problem with dc ,as mentioned you only need to cut a slot between the holes to rectify.You can then fill the slot with silicon if required.

[@maxime41418]

You are very welcome :-)

[@shirleyboy8859]

Excellent video...I do not know what the surface of the Solar Panel is like, but have you thought about using car wax polish to protect your panel? It would mean that the salt water would run off and not stain the panel and prevent scratching when you clean. Stay safe, I don`t have to tell you both to stay Happy, because you obviously are :-))) xx

[@AnatolyKern]

An idea to think for future expansion: you can have several solar panels attached to the safety railings with supporting posts on both sides of the boat. Adjustable for the sun angle and foldable for underway with strong winds. Have seen it on several small boats.

[@MiQBohlin]

Great! ☀️

[@Salgood]

He he, you say repeatable rather than reputable 🤗

[@rvsorce7196]

I might be wrong and they don't fit but it almost looks like you could turn them 90 degrees and put a 2nd up there but you might have to prop up a couple inches? but your boat and your needs.

[@tronalpha9137]

You should allso when you can install an wind generater. they will complment the solar and when its cloudy and night you you will still have power going into the battery bank as auto helms use up an good percentage. lighting will all so put a small charge back into the panles. Gerard.

[@stephenkillick5812]

I have installed solar panels at my home and the supplier insisted on German panels as Chinese panels, whilst cheaper, are not reliable and need replacement much sooner. Extra cost for Gerrman panels is apparently cheaper in the long run. It pays obviously to buy quality to start with!

[@jimc4731]

It looks like you have enough room for a second panel, do you think you will add one? I enjoyed your video! JIM

[@clairephaneuf1908]

Great

[@MonteStudios]

You should consider the use of wire ferrules (@ 4:45 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gom9e6N8mbx3qqM ) to make installing (especially in tight working spaces), future troubleshooting and repairs easier...

[@johnsherborne3245]

well done on a very neat installation, the module you chose uses some of the best cel technology and you are reaping the benefit of that investment. I particularly like the way you use the MC4 to carry the connections through the deck, they really are very good though not completely bomb proof. Have you any caps to go over or in the connectors when the panel isn't plugged in? Happy sailing!

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

The solbian deck connection does come with caps to close when not plugged in and we have not used them yet, but they look very leak proof! Thx for watching Aladino

[@johnsherborne3245]

Sailing Magic Carpet .i used to be a solar module design engineer, then taught electricians installation, before doing it my self. I have one installation which has a leaky MC4. It's not been a serious issue, but I suspect one of the tiny o rings is either missing or broken. I the case of this array just getting to the panels is very difficult indeed. I think if you needed to, there is room to go for a second panel. Btw, you are right to avoid cracking the cells, they are as fragile as eggshell though they can go on working surprisingly well if the get even serious damage, best to avoid it though.

[@OmarSher]

So now we are watching videos made on green energy. Vow.

[@midgoog2]

Rather than adding another solar panel have you looked at fitting a wind generator as a supplementary source of energy. Cheers Eric

[@togangokbakar]

Is Solbian better than the original Sunpower flex panels?

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

Dear Magic Carpet couple. Uuuuh, what happened? The thumbs up and the heart you kindly gave to me/my comment has disappeared!? Maybe only because I added a former forgotten s to Aladinos name!? Hey Utube, I want my heart back!

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

Hahaha here you go!

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

@@SailingMagicCarpet Aaaaw, thank you very much 😳 I really don't know why Utube stole my heart! :-) ;-) Usually I can edit respectively add something to a comment how often I want to. Strange... Also weird: I often get a 👍 and/or a ❤ for my comments (I kind of collect them). But sometimes no thumbs up or heart is shown, but some yellow star thingi? Maybe because I only use a smartphone and it is an older Android version!? Internet becomes crazier every day. Sincerely yours.

[@callumduncan6728]

Very informative but a little of your music would have been delightful .Fairwinds young lady

[@Captain10Star]

1st 😁

[@faircompetition1203]

See it is possible to live off grid no problem just as soon as you realize you don't need all the power hogs

[@damit505]

Dam almost mist this video

[@matthewbaynham6286]

Why did you choose not to install a small wind turbine as well?

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

Small steps! Given the two options, solar is more appealing to start with because it's quiet. Wind generators are loud - which beyond being vaguely irritating, would actually really hinder my voice over and music recordings. Not to say we won't look into one in the future, but we wanted to start with solar.

[@ddd228]

@@SailingMagicCarpet Terrible idea. They are prone to failure.

[@GoldFinger2042]

Why not put solar panels on a dinghy boat?? "Solar blanket"

[@MrROBBIE1953]

when passing cables through a metal plate you should pass both cables through the same hole. I you do not then you will create eddy currents between the two holes.You can cut a slot between the two holes to eliminate the problem.

[@JPBennett]

Is that still an issue with DC?

[@dato6490]

@@JPBennett It is not an issue

[@argusdacicus1516]

You cant fit 2 more smaller sqare panels and what about wind turbine ???

[@SailingMagicCarpet]

We could, and perhaps we will in the future! Wind turbines have a lot of drawbacks so we don’t want one of those

[@argusdacicus1516]

@@SailingMagicCarpet drawback ? It spin it generate power simple , special în Night time wen wind Pick up speed , another solution is to have a electric engine plus a generator....it cheaper in money and as long you move in the water and the propelow spin it generate electricity ,not mention it save money nu not doing meintenance like change oil filters all kind of mechanical problems......You got many solution at your disposal

[@mikebarron5805]

@@argusdacicus1516 Wind generators are noisy.

[@argusdacicus1516]

@@mikebarron5805 nothing work for You 😁 there are smal solar panels with hard glasa on top and You cant cover the deck and walk in them, thats a fancy solution.......another solution it to take example from Sailing Zatara they got flexible solar panels in top of the cabin boat i think it model that you cant walk in them.....i told you another solution it to get rid of your diesel engine and replace it with a electric one and a smal generator wen you are în the move the electric engine generate electricity it will cut cost take example from Sailing Uma.....one smal solar panel not even far enough.....You need to feed the electronics on board it mather of safety 🤔