Solar Panels For Boats

Being able to power the electronics on your boat without worrying about power consumption is important to every boater. Solar power is the most useful option available, the problem is through is orientation has to be easy to change as well as large enough to provide the usable charge density. In the northern hemisphere, the best solar energy is in the southwest direction so you will need to be able to adjust your boats solar panels to be facing the southwest to maximize power production. Another way to maximize power you can use a dome and cover it with flexi-cells. The dome design is great because you do not need to adjust anything but you will not get as much power out the cells.
The type and size of the solar panels for boats will depend greatly on the style of boat you have as well as what devices you are powering. To get the most out of the power you are able to produce you will want to see what you are powering and how much power it takes to run them. Many boat lights and radios take several hundred watts of power and with limited surface you can apply panels too will dictate how much power is possible to produce during daylight hours.
To get a bit technical; on average there is about one kilo-watt of solar power per square meter being produced every hour of the day. Sadly, with most solar setups you only get about 20% of that. Which is why is good to be aware of how much power is used and what you can swap out for more power efficient devices. You will also need a power transformer to convert the power into your battery system; this converter will also drop the power a bit. Even with this power loss, you are getting free power for your boat.
Is in parting you want to have your boats solar panels facing southwest as much as possible and a 15-degree angle will help out a lot. Good luck and have fun with green power production.