Replace solar panel

[Christian]

Has anybody replaced the solar panel on foredeck?
My panel seems to be dead.

How to find the cable? Does it go over the toilet? Can it be spliced anywhere? Is there a better way to do the replacement?

[gminkovsky]

My panel is also dead. It produces about 9 volts only. A few years ago I replaced the original charge controller that went bad with a 30 amp controller. The panel wire and battery wire were accessible in a sliding door cabinet under the port window.

A few years ago the connection wiring at the panel went bad. I cleaned it well, and then soldered a new piece of wire to the panel terminals and to the wire that goes into the deck. I covered this with liquid wire insulation that works like paint.

I tried removing the original panel without success. It is held in place with screws as well as some kind adhesive. So my panel is still there. However, I disconnected panel wire from the charge controller.

I bought a new rigid panel last year. It was terrible: heavy, inconvenient to install. So I returned it. I am still looking for a reasonable replacement that is available in th US.

When I find the right panel, I intend to install it in the same place and solder the new wire to the existing wire that comes out from the deck.

Meanwhile, all of last season and now I am relying on the engine to keep the batteries charged.

I am also not happy with the batteries.My original batteries lasted 8 seasons. The next set only lasted 4 years.I just bought and installed a new pair. I am wondering whether the failing panel contributed to the premature battery failure.

[Christian]

Fund that a part of the problem was the regulator. So I installed a new MPPT regulator. And now I have all panels in serie - so the old one together with a soft one on the cabin roof works almost ok. That is the nice thing with MPPT - put all panels in serie to get a high voltage ( I get up to 50v) and the regulator uses it to charge in the right way. Thinking of adding panels on amas too.

So try a MPPT and you can get some usage of the old panel.

[joachim.schmidt]

Has anybody replaced the solar panel on foredeck?
My panel seems to be dead.

How to find the cable? Does it go over the toilet? Can it be spliced anywhere? Is there a better way to do the replacement?

I changed the solar panel in the summer time. The cable was fixed between the the top and toilet walls and could not be moved. I spliced the cable from the new and the old and pushed the assembly below deck. The new panel is glued in place.

There where no power supplied and I clould not see the charge of the batteries, while I instaled a new controller, that did not work either, until I found out the fuse was the problem, when that was changed power worked again. Had the cable not been squezed/fixed it could be done in a afternoon.