Yesterday afternoon–the intrepid Triton Marine crew is caught delivering the first of our two panel solar arrays. Rick Goode is leading the way, the boss, Corey, is hiding, and Casey Weires is bringing up the rear. These 145lb/66kg assemblies were duly lifted onto their transom mounted masts, and the wiring process commenced.

Ace sparky, Casey, putting finishing touches on the array loom. These are 60 Volt DC panels, and a degree of electrical care is in order.

A boat yard photo – we’ll do better in a couple of days when we are at anchor – taken at 1500 local time. Our booms are inboard and the port side has some shading going on. It is a hazy day, with a smoke advisory from local wild fires in effect. Not the best conditions for solar output.

The first output reading on the Outback 80 solar regulator: 25.6 Volts x 35.4 amps going into the batteries equals 906 watts. Theoretically, we should be closer to 1280 watts without our onboard shading and a clear sky. Still, 906 watts times a five hour solar day or more, equals half our daily consumption. We shall soon see what happens when the smoke clears and our booms are rotated out at anchor.

Details of the installation, support system, and operational logic to follow next week.