SOLAR UPGRADE, Install and MAXIMIZING SPACE on our Sailboat - Ep 137

We're installing more solar on our sailboat to improve boat life in efforts to be more self-sufficient and to keep up with the climate that we're in. We're installing BougeRV's CIGS 100W walkable solar panels.
FLEXIBLE SOLAR PANELS
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#sailing #bougerv #solarpower #solarpanels

[@akLeanne]

Those new cig bougerv. Panels are the bomb. The new technology is insane.

[@SolarizeYourLife]

Finally, someone that is actually using CIGs panels...

[@ToddMoore1]

Thank you for the upload!

[@SailingJibsea]

Thanks for watching!

[@peterfrebold]

... the way solar panel tech is moving ahead right now doubt if they will need to last ten years .. definitely a great sounding product .. use a second halyard and raise it in front of your main. Just a thought that flashed trough the grey matter .... mighty fine .. as always .. never stop dreaming, just dream bigger .. have fun be safe, save our oceans ....

[@rl8992]

I have the BougeRV fridge freezer, amazing products!

[@SailingJibsea]

That’s great to hear their other products work well!

[@biggooseadventures]

Another great video

[@SailingJibsea]

Thanks😊

[@pmacgowan]

What a cool product :-), also you should look at bifacial panel’s as a replacement for your 160w

[@rickkwitkoski1976]

Thanks for the vid

[@billskelton3701]

Good point Phillip L about possible slippery. Travis?

[@roydaley3413]

👍We sewed velcro to the dodger and bimini, glued velcro to the panels, fed the wires through a hole under the panel. Hasnt leaked in about six years of seasonal use.

[@SailingJibsea]

That’s amazing!

[@brownnoise357]

You can get single hotplate portable induction Hobs, which can be a huge help in conserving Cooking Gas. Get things up to temperature with the hob , say of a pressure cooker and then maintain cooking temperature with a gas burner ? I’m really looking forward to testing that sort of setup. Bob. 👍⛵️🌟🌟🌟

[@nibayethic9417]

Another great ad

[@troublekaliman]

I like that possible dodger install as well! seems like a perfect fit for your dodger-including the curve over the sides since it would still catch the rays.

[@SailingJibsea]

Yeah they curve nicely. We just don’t prefer it for ours as mentioned in the vid

[@Willriii]

I see you have gotten many comments on if the CIGS are slippery. I'm watching chronologically, so if you followed up on this, I haven't seen it yet; Would love to hear your thoughts now. If you ever get an override on your jib furler , you might need to go up there in really bad weather so you can furl the jib, Don't ask me how I know

[@SailingJibsea]

I’m sure they could be slippery in rainy wet conditions but we personally haven’t found them to be an issue maybe because they’re in a spot we don’t normally step all too much on. But like everything else on our boat, we’ve gotten used to how to work around things and what we have where etc.

[@davidodonovan1699]

Great work. You guys are awesome. Well done.

[@SailingJibsea]

Thanks David!

[@davidodonovan1699]

@@SailingJibsea you're welcome! 😀😇👋🇮🇪💚🤍🧡

[@chrissterba501]

Those are really cool panels, thanks for sharing. I've never come across those exact ones and most folks avoid the flexible versions. These sure look promising. Love the channel and always look forward to next week's adventures (either by location or your recent DIYs!!!).

[@SailingJibsea]

Yeah! They fit perfectly for us without having to change the whole set up for now so it seems to be the best option for now!

[@svZia-Switch51]

Looking forward to hearing how the panels perform. Would be great on a performance cat to keep the weight down!

[@SailingJibsea]

Definitely!

[@royshroud9536]

Lithium batteries will help immensely. Lithium batteries provide 100% of their rated capacity, regardless of the rate of discharge. Lead-acid batteries typically provide less usable energy with higher rates of discharge. They are usually limited to 50% of the rated capacity to prevent diminished life.

[@SailingJibsea]

Yeah we’ve read up on them and it’s something we’re looking into for the future!

[@royshroud9536]

@@SailingJibsea worth the money!

[@Alex-us2vw]

Yup we love our lithium batteries. Paired with a DC generator we can charge them very fast for a few dollars per day in fuel. Much nicer option to having to install panels everywhere.

[@michaelmerrithew578]

I have watched your videos from the beginning, and I envy you. Setting out for the Caribbean next summer. I have been sailing and racing my own boats for the last 61 years and I am surprised by your solar panel placement. I love you guys, but I can't think of a worse spot for those slick panels. I know, I know, you don't go up there much, but when you will have to, it's going to be "out there". Everything happens, "out there". And it might not be a sunny day motoring in the med. How careful are we to keep the deck non-skid? We don't wax the decks, we wear deck shoes, all to keep our butts on the boat. I hope you continue to have a great time, great stories, and great memories. Those panels are the proper size to drape over the top of your bimni. I have wide velcro sewn onto my binini, and tabs with grommets for tie-downs. 4x500 watt panels up there and one 200 on the dodger, and one 200 watt on the deck.

[@SailingJibsea]

Awesome, hopefully we see you down there. Fortunately it’s been a great placement for us with no issues even having done multiple offshore sails “out there” with them in place. As with everything else on the boat, it’s grown to be a part of it that we know and work with/around. Being a centre cockpit, they actually don’t quite fit over our dodger (nor do we prefer to put anything on there ) and the rest of our panels are over our bimini. So for us, it’s worked out quite nicely😃

[@fk8marko774]

Now that is a pretty damn sweet option Travis! Just finished a small install on my boat and I could always use more solar for sure. BougeRV makes some pretty cool stuff i currently have their fridge 35L for cold beers lol. Always love a good install video. Did you upgrade, or get a new solar charge controller when you did this or did you have one that allowed for upgrades

[@SailingJibsea]

Nice! It’s great to hear they’ve got a nice line of other stuff as well! We used an old controller we had but are going to need to get a new one. Think it bit the dust

[@brownnoise357]

It will be very interesting to see how well they perform, and especially how long they last. In general most Flexible Solar Panels are heading to the Trash bin, in one to three years and are as big a waste of money as Polycrystalline Panels, and actually far far worse as most Polycrystalline Panels are finished within six to seven years. I had one new Polycrystalline Panel to test, to see if New ones had a much improved Service Life, to which would be added the Main Bank of Mono crystalline Panels, that can still provide useful Power after 25 years, but sadly that testing was Cut short with the sinking of my Boat. Next Boat’s Aft Cockpit Solar Arch, should be able to mount 1000 watts of Panels, and with a decent engine alternator as backup, and maybe a Wind Generator (not sure fully about that yet tbh) , things should be ok for at least a while. Though as House Bank will be high quality AGM Batteries, I’m thinking Seriously of adding a Lifepo4 Power Bank as a Backup. As curious to see how long I can make one last. Best Wishes, and fingers crossed for those flexible panels. Bob in Wales. 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿⛵️🌟🌟🌟

[@NevSau]

Love your channel (I’m still aboard even after my last comment?) Why does your boat always look so tidy, pristine and shiney? I’ve always liked your cockpit enclosure Can you please tell me who made it and where can I get one made of similar design Many thanks and fair winds and a whole lot more sunshine!

[@SailingJibsea]

Thanks! Lol we try our best to keep her clean The enclosure was already on the boat when we got it. We just had the canvas redone in Toronto using the existing design

[@noldushumlesnurr6169]

Any chance of an update on the performance of these? My apologies if you already made a followup and I missed it. Any time soon there should be sails with integrated pv. Atleast for calm weather. I did see the super yacht Black Perl test some out, but it wasn't reliable enough for "production/day to day" use.

[@SailingJibsea]

They worked great up until recently when they broke. Think the cells may have fried from the combo of heat+salt water. Not sure if it’s cuz they were on the deck and required some airflow?

[@noldushumlesnurr6169]

@@SailingJibsea Without knowing the specifics of the panels, high heat could fry them, and it has been realy hot in some areas. Salt water should only be a problem if they have delamination (or puncture holes) so water could penetrate. I take it you have done the basic open voltage and closed circuit current test with a multimeter to ensure it is a panel problem. I asked the original question because I wonder if they would last if I fitted them to the outside of the hull, and that should work from the sound if it. That's my thought anyway. Thanks for replying. PS: If they are "fried" (no guarantee options) and they where mine I would "open" the cable connection box and measure directly on the pv cell entry-point (it could be the reverse blocking diode that is dead). Then I would work my way backwards to see if I could find the failing cell (unlessit is obvious by visual inspection). You dont need much of that panel to make a usb charging unit. Anyway, just a thought.

[@SailingJibsea]

It was basically the entire thing. It’s just a damaged panel that we could see from the outside. It’s completely separated where we can lift can see it all damaged internally

[@noldushumlesnurr6169]

@@SailingJibsea Sorry to hear that. Thanks for replying and clarify the issue.

[@claysmith3660]

How slippery are they wet? If there not bad I'd like to put them on my 420 Passage.

[@SailingJibsea]

They do get slippery. But it’s the best option for our set up at the moment! Always a compromise

[@claysmith3660]

@@SailingJibsea can you tell me where you got your dinghy Davits. I’m in Sackets harbor on Lake Ontario

[@SailingJibsea]

They’re the weaver snap davit system and we had the arm custom made

[@MrRedeoarknot]

I used earth magnets through the Bimini to fasten solar. Held through 65 mile gusts. Of course flexible panels. Wouldn't they be pretty slippery on the deck?

[@SailingJibsea]

Oh wow. That’s impressive holding. Ya they can be slippery but our best option without changing our set up for now - there’s always a compromise, but we just go down the centre if underway

[@paulbarnett4021]

Won’t these panels make the deck very slippery?

[@SailingJibsea]

It could get slippery yes

[@phillipl9746]

Looks like they would be slippery when wet

[@SailingJibsea]

They could be slippery. We tend to go towards the centre more when going forward underway

[@dd214veteran]

Now that you have used the CIGS panel do you find that it gets slippery?

[@SailingJibsea]

They get slick like anywhere else that gets salt covered or water spray but we haven’t had an issue with slipping because we work around them if we needed to step on that particular spot (not often)

[@dd214veteran]

@@SailingJibsea appreciate it. We are trying to beef up the solar on the boat and I’m hoping to find some non skid solar to help with our limited space.

[@leonasimmons162]

Wouldn't the panels get wet from the rough seas?

[@SailingJibsea]

All solar panels get wet from rain, seawater etc, they can handle it 🙂

[@BroncoJohnJohn]

I also have a Hunter with the arch and like the lights you mounted on the arch. They look like magnified spot lights? Can you share what they are and how you use them?

[@SailingJibsea]

Not sure which lights you mean. We just have regular lights. Not magnifying or anything?

[@michaelboddy7794]

Hey, how's that iPad you bought from me working out for you guys? Love watching your sailing adventures.

[@SailingJibsea]

Great! Awesome to have you following along!

[@jonathanscott550]

great solar panel choice. I am just concerned about slipping walking over them. Are they slip resistant. I know you said walkable, but are they slip resistant as wouldn't want you to slip overboard.

[@nedwphillips2126]

Yeah that was bothering me too eh

[@SailingJibsea]

It can get slippery when wet yes, but so does the rest of our deck so we’re always mindful

[@DannoC355AC]

You're going to slip on those things when it's pouring rain and the season are rough. I wish you good luck with them, and don't add to your list of broken bones!

[@SailingJibsea]

Everything gets slippery on the boat when it’s pouring! We’re used to it though. Best option for now☺️

[@DannoC355AC]

@Sailing Jibsea Yeah, everything gets wet except the non- skid deck coating that you covered with slippery solar panels. Be extra careful when you're doing a passage in the middle of nowhere in the rain.

[@BohemianBeatster]

Are they slippery to walk on when they get wet?

[@SailingJibsea]

Yes they can get slick

[@Useitorloseit1]

Slippery with or without bare feet?

[@SailingJibsea]

I’d imagine both