POWER SERIES PART 1: SOLAR POWER AND INSTALL//Solar Array On A Sailboat-Episode 10

[@gearhed78]

Tye, your skillset seems limitless. Welding SS to countertops to fiberglass to deep diesel engine repairs. Amazing man.

[@colinwilliams9290]

And so my binge watch has begun, enjoying the content 👍

[@SailingDauntless]

Welcome aboard!

[@mikef5693]

Super inspirational, thanks so much for this. Found you guys from your episode with Colin from Parley, began following him because I am looking at buying a 450 (used but undamaged) but I am going to be working about 1/3 of the time from the boat and need to have a serious upgrade to the electrical system to make all the electronics I need to make that happen. Not afraid of the expense or the work and I just want you to know that I love your "take pause but don't be afraid" ethos, Cant wait to finish binge watching your adventure and see you on the water one day, cheers!

[@markgrant1933]

I just bought my boat. So I am a newbie on everything. Thanks for your videos because they are helping me a lot. Plus your replies. I bought a 38 foot cat because it is only me. So thanks again.

[@SailingDauntless]

Glad to help

[@mymoney9234]

Can’t believe I have t found you guys sooner! Love the channel

[@markgrant1933]

You guys are really teaching me. Thank You.

[@MrJhchrist]

The look on a bald guy's face when he talks about spending $20k+ to power hair dryers and curling irons! Lol

[@MrJohnheater]

This is prob my most appreciated video series! There just isn't much info on this type of build with tesla battery bank. In a few years I hope to replicate this build at maybe 65% of his total battery battery bank. Excellent job guys! and Girls!

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you so much for watching John! Good luck with your project!

[@EdwardTilley]

Buddy can dance; did not see that coming. haha These are good videos guys ; interesting and nice to see no fear in the face of pretty intimidating repairs. Great job on the counter and its a shame that the bi-facial solar panels weren't a thing last year because those are perfect for catching reflection from the water.

[@ReefRunner1]

Finally!! Someone who speaks in kilowatt-hours and watt-hours! Anyone who is planning electric on a multi-voltage vehicle would do well to heed your example. I'm still in the planning stages and it me how many folks are insisting on talking in terms of amp-hours for electrical storage on vessels that have a mix of 230v, 110v, 48v, 24v, and 12v sub-systems. Amp-hours is so voltage dependent that it is a next to a useless measurement on a vessel of this size and complexity.

[@PurposePlastics]

This series in invaluable!! Thank you

[@nealt8173]

This was the best video you guys have done so far. Consistent in telling a story. I hope you succeed. Please keep it up for the rest of us “couch sailers”. I love what you’re doing.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you! We think every video gets a little better and are so happy you are enjoying. Thank you for your kind words. Fair winds to you, Neal.

[@jman5673]

A very clean build and install for the solar array, being able to use the knock on fittings made a professional result. Only tig welder I have ever seen carried on a boat

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you for the compliment on the craftsmanship! Can't live with out my tools 😉

[@TheBubagrunt]

Just started binge watching this amazing saga of your adventure. I really enjoy the closeness of your family 😊 I love your methodology indie with memories. Thank you for sharing your life’s. Gods blessings

[@SailingDauntless]

Thanks Bubagrunts!

[@pamelacramer8551]

You guys are awesome! Who said all of that math wouldn’t come in to play in life? So proud of you! Love you all!

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you for your support!

[@murraydrum]

Hey Dauntless family!! Congratulations on taking the leap and thanks for providing great content; I love watching the refits and improvements! Cheers to the new adventure! Hope to see you on the water in three years when we cast lines. Cheers!!!

[@SailingDauntless]

Hello and thank you for watching and commenting! We REALLY appreciate your support! Good luck with your adventure as well and we look forward to seeing you on the water as well!!!!

[@andymarshall2201]

I watched your chat with Colin, he’s a legend and has probably had a huge influence on many people doing what you are doing. Good luck, I am looking forward to binge watching your story. Stay safe.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you and welcome!

[@slynn5138]

Colin is the man. Can’t wait to see the updates on Parlay.

[@msurmel007]

thanks for sharing with us.... regards from Germany ...

[@SailingDauntless]

Thanks for watching!

[@lslewis104ca]

Pretty cool episode. Great to see you putting your past creative work experience to use on a boat. I am also in the planning stage to use solar for my home, and never thought about using Tesla batteries, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that tidbit

[@yrwynt6672]

Real smart work, looks great, and a great price on the panels! But please work safely! I appreciate you’ve been in the business for a long time but standing on the Davits 20ft up with no tie on is not good! Folks also use their halyard and winch to lift things up, but you got there with pure elbow grease! Looking forward to the battery instal next week!

[@SailingDauntless]

Thanks for watching and we appreciate your concern and admittedly it did get a little dicey with the gusts. It was difficult for us to use the halyard because of the placement of the array, but we were being extra careful with every step. We communicate very well and look out for each other as we move. I know you don't hear that in the video. Thank you again!

[@Sciolist]

Congratulations on achieving 100 subscribers. Many more would come I'm pretty sure.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you so much! And thank you for following along on our adventure!

[@donaldweiser9408]

Great video. Progress is fun to watch

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you!😊

[@peggykm4977]

Love this episode! How exciting to not have a generator (maybe). We have a generator in our RV and I don't like the noise (and we can't even use it ( if we are being good neighbors) when parked near other RVs during our travels. Makes me wonder if we need to convert our RV to Solar!! Keep the videos coming!

[@SailingDauntless]

A solar powered RV would be really cool! Hope that you maybe can get that figured out! Thank you so much for watching!

[@susanarmstrong2202]

Love the progress!

[@SailingDauntless]

Us too! Thank you for watching!

[@johnmerrett5186]

Bingeing in the 🇬🇧👍👍🏝😎

[@robswenson9598]

Wow, being able to weld stainless seems like a huge cost savings on your project. It's interesting seeing the progress

[@SailingDauntless]

Rob, it has definitely come in handy. We saved about 7-8k doing it ourselves.

[@jnjentinc]

Binged 15 so far 😉

[@jimlinton4655]

Nice!

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you!

[@rustyjeff3007]

new subscriber. love the intro but love the story more. Glad to see someone finally move to a 48 v system. has always made more sense to me these days considering modern tech tefgel is your friend..... it will stop galling & corrosion between dissimilar metals

[@SailingDauntless]

We have lots of tefgel on the boat, and we met Bob the inventor!😉 48V is awesome however, it was a challenge to convert to 12V for some of our high amperage draw equipment.

[@stephenjames5216]

Just found your channel recently and I'm working my way through your videos. Love the technical details, especially the power series. We should be closing on our own hurricane damaged boat next week. I'm looking into different power options as I'm putting together a crate of stuff to send to our "new" boat. Question: How has your Tesla power system worked out? Would you do that again, perhaps on your Leopard? This looks like an intriguing option. I'm very interested. Thanks for the great videos. Keep living out your dreams.

[@SailingDauntless]

Glad your enjoying the channel and congrats on the new boat! The Tesla system works fabulous. We have been running flawlessly for two years. If you need help with your system you can email me at [e-mail]. Fair winds!

[@marc4322]

Great video! Where did you purchase your stainless steel fittings ?

[@markgrant1933]

How did you determine the OD and wall thickness you needed in building your solar support? I have to do that also. Thanks again. Sorry if I ask too many questions.

[@matildamia2671]

G'day thanks for a great video, where did you order the handrail 316 fittings from?

[@donr416]

I cannot find them.

[@sailingnidnoi]

Hi there i calculated that 300W at 24V will give you enough solar power depending on where in the world you are as you said your self and for battery capacity you should be fine

[@R.E.HILL_]

Nice.. The welding.. only fusion no filler?

[@SailingDauntless]

I used a few fusion tacks during mockup but the entire project was welded with 316L filler.

[@kevinholmes2707]

I know I'm late to the game with this question but, where did you get the framing components for your solar arch? I'm looking at building one with integrated dingy davits for our monohull.

[@SailingDauntless]

I don’t quite remember, its been 3 years. I do remember that they were in Miami and had a mostly outdoor yard

[@MechEngDommo]

I'd say you're going to want to have at least 10 kw of generation to trickle charge your bank. You may also want to look at wind turbines and hydrogenerators to combine with your solar, so that you can trickle charge the batteries at night and during cloudy weather. A good sized wind turbine could probably generate 1kw if the wind is blowing hard. You may even want more than one. The hydrogenerator adds some drag to the boat, but generates reliable power while sailing.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you for watching and for your suggestion! We are currently generating between 12-14 kw per day with our current set up. We will be adding another 1100 watts. From there we will inventory our generation and consumption to see if we need to add any wind, hydro, or a generator.

[@MechEngDommo]

@@SailingDauntless I'd still recommend setting up some wind for sure. I think to ensure your batteries stay charged that having some diversity is a good thing. The only thing with wind though is that I'd suggest going as big as is practical, maybe something like this?ALEKO® 3KW 48V Wind Turbine Generator Wind Generator 3000W . This will ensure decent production even in low windspeeds.

[@btrotta]

@@MechEngDommo Wind power is nice, in that like solar it's "free," but it has a number of disadvantages. First, is that it only produces to its rating in strong winds. The model you suggest only reaches 3KW when the wind is over 25 MPH. That's pretty typical for most wind generators. At a more typical 12 mph, that unit only produces about 300 watts. Next, you can have wind turbines that are small or that are powerful, but not both. That particular unit you recommend is HUGE and wouldn't fit on their boat. The rotor diameter is 10.5 feet! And the unit itself weighs in at 165 lbs! You'd need to nearly double that to put in a support tall enough and add the kind of reinforcement to the deck to support the weight and the torque of such a huge turbine. A common unit for a boat that size has a max output of about 400 watts, weighs 15 pounds and has a rotor diameter of 3.75 feet. The other big disadvantage of wind is noise. As much as they try to isolate them and choose acoustically minimal designs, there's still the ever present woosh of the blades and hum of the turbine. Any time the wind is blowing, the noise is there. I believe it was the O'Kellys who removed their turbine because the noise was too much for them.

[@SailingDauntless]

Thank you for the detailed input! You are correct, it was the O'Kelly's that removed their wind generator for that very reason. We do have the ability/space to add more solar. We agree with the points you have made about the disadvantages, and also agree that the negatives outweigh the positives when it comes to this form of "free" power generation.

[@landonhillyard]

what would you think about using extruded aluminum instead of stainless tubing? Something like 8020. I too tig weld, but that modular extruded aluminum stuff is just too easy.

[@SailingDauntless]

It could work, but aluminum corrodes rapidly in the salty environment. It might be ok if you could anodize the entire structure.

[@stevencowart3127]

Where did you get your panels? I would love to have some just like that!

[@SailingDauntless]

We found them on Facebook Marketplace believe it or not! There is a local guy here that buys them in bulk and then sells them.

[@markgrant1933]

Where did you buy the SS tubing and elbows/connectors? I need that. Thanks again.

[@SailingDauntless]

SS supply shop in Miami. It’s been a while, I don’t remember the name.

[@markgrant1933]

Thanks @@SailingDauntless

[@artdenning6190]

What happened to your prop and keel

[@antonylarge1146]

Hi Dauntless, great projects and very interesting, thank you. Could you tell us where you sourced the stainless steel 316 tube and fittings from and what diameter tube you went with? We are looking and doing something similar with our catamaran. Would be great if you can live without a generator - something which would be perfect for us, I do not think our insurance will let us go Tesla. Thanks.

[@SailingDauntless]

Sure thing, I’m glad you find the videos helpful!We used .065” wall 316 tubing from a supplier in Miami (Simmons surplus and stainless) but you should be able to get it anywhere. I would advise ordering your fittings online however as they are much cheaper and you will have a better selection. Make sure to pay attention to the tube wall sizing as it will make a difference on fitment.

[@antonylarge1146]

@@SailingDauntless Thank you, did you use a particular make for the stainless steel connections? Is the Stainless steel tube 42mm or 48mm? Thanks.

[@SailingDauntless]

I used fittings from buyrailings.com for size I used 1.5” or approx 40mm.

[@williams7744]

Love the use of prefab fittings! Looking at buyrailings.com, it looks like they say the fittings can be glued, which seems iffy to me. Did you just tack-weld the fittings with a spot at the seam or did you run a bead all the way around? Also, did you mount the bimini end to the top of the existing stainless stanchions, or attach to the fiberglass directly? Thanks!!

[@wilikot5394]

Don't forget wind1

[@Wedge-Antilles]

You could have ran the panels in series and only had one hole to cut into your boat. Other then that good video.

[@viper5955]

👍

[@sandyc6569]

👍😊👍

[@markgrant1933]

But amp-hours ignores watts and voltage. Not understanding. There are no differences in amp-hours regardless of voltage. Let me know. Thanks

[@SailingDauntless]

Amperage or current varies based on applied voltage. Voltage times amperage equals watts. 12V X 10A= 120Wh or 120V X 1A = 120Wh. Research Ohm’s Law and you will see the variations of the formula.

[@markgrant1933]

Thanks @@SailingDauntless

[@markgrant1933]

I did look it up. Thanks for showing me.@@SailingDauntless