Kuro Shinju

We are the proud owners of a new, solar-power enabled bimini. In ideal conditions, 520 watts of electrical power course through those panels. Everyday, fuel-free energy flows from the sun shade over our cockpit into our 24v battery bank. All thanks to the giant fusion ball in the sky. A heartfelt thank you to Apollo, Ra, Amaterasu, Helios, Freyer, and all their lesser known cousins.

520w may seem like a lot, but in reality, we expect 50% yield for a maximum of six hours a day. We’ll likely get more in the summer, but setting low expectations is how happy sailors are made. The expectation is 1.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy per day. Enough energy to run 100 watts of cabin lighting for 15 hours, or a 1500w microwave for one hour. 

In terms of what most homes consume, 1.5 kWh is a paltry number. A trickle of power that will barely run a 55” television and PlayStation (during peak output). But a sailboat isn’t a house. Most of our power consumption is in refrigeration, lighting, and USB outlets to power our electronic toys. 1.5 kWh per day is plenty for that. 

In the cases we need more power—to run our water maker, washing machine, or big screen television—we have a 9 kW generator. Sure, it’s noisy and uses fuel (though sparingly), it’s reliable and on-demand. It works in the winter, when the sun likes to slink about closer to the horizon, away from our solar panels. It even works at night, during rainstorms, and all the other times Apollo doesn’t bless us with a shower of photons.

For now, our modest-sized solar installation meets our daily needs. As we transition to more time “on the hook,” and less in the marina, our energy needs will increase. Until then, our sun-drinking bimini gives us independence without monitoring battery voltage every 20 minutes or having the obnoxious noise of the generator droning away.