Hi Alex,
With respect to your wish to be greener, I fully support that inclination as long as we are agreed that there are few people greener in the western world than those who live aboard modest sized sailboats. Yes, solar has gotten much better as have the black boxes that control them. Rather than solar on your wish list and since you have a genset already, I would put your efforts into impeccable care and feeding of the beast, good spare parts inventory even if expensive and a larger battery bank (which can always be charged by the propulsion engine in a complete GS breakdown. If you wish to be further adventurous, I believe the new generation of lithium batteries will provide some impressive benefits to onboard off grid life (may be there already).
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Hi John,
I agree with your comments about solar and wind for generating power.
Finding real estate for solar on a monohull is particularly hard if you rule out lifelines as I do (for offshore boats I believe nothing should be attached to something as important and vulnerable as lifelines including jerry cans but especially kayaks etc.). A well done arch can work, but is pretty pricey and often leaves one tempted to then have (and use underway) davits with a dinghy hanging there, often with a motor attached. A wind generator can be loud, especially if it is doing its job, but then, many think a genset makes for a pretty poor neighbour. At least one chooses when to run the GS.
Which returns me to: if you feel the need for a genset (big freezer or aircon at anchor), then forgo the passive power generation and its complications, put the weight in extra batteries and run the GS regularly and hard.
Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

There is no easy or universal solution. A lot depends on where you are cruising, the type of sailing you are doing and the equipment you have on board, especially a freezer.

We found that in the Caribbean winter season we could easily exist with just an Airex wind charger for all our power needs; but they are noisy and anti-social in a crowded anchorage. In other areas where a good sustained wind is infrequent they are next to useless as a primary charging source.

On passage we use an Aquair towed generator which gives us 6 amps at 7 knots and that is sufficient for daily needs with a fridge but no freezer and LED lights, but obviously of no benefit when not sailing. Having wind vane steering cuts out the power requirement of an autopilot on longer passages.

Solar panels are attractive, if expensive, but the biggest problem is where to locate them where they are not in the way, not vulnerable and not in the shadow of sails, etc. Yes you can mount them on the guardrails on hinges but they are very vulnerable there when in a seaway and I have a personal dislike of gantries above the cockpit with all sorts of clutter up there. So, where to put them?

John

Thank you Dick

we have been pondering this question for years, wishing to be greener. Wind generators all seem quite loud, and solar has up to now been tricky and iffy. The latest panels seem much better, and friends of ours charge batteries and run their refrigeration on theirs. However the overall cost does still seem quite high. My guesstimate is that an installed setup for our boat will cost in the region of 2,000 Euros.

We have an 8KW generator. It uses pretty close to a gallon an hour when under load. When living aboard we run it 45 mins a day to keep our freezer and refrigerator at temp, produce hot water and top up our batteries. If my sums are correct, we might get close to the price of a solar panel install if we live aboard full time for over 7 years.

bottom line: Solar Panels remain on the list, but there are other items higher up.

Hi everyone,
In my experience, if you wander widely, there are 2 considerations that compel one to consider a genset: a large freezer and the wish to have aircon at anchor. If you can live without the former items (or just do not have them, most cruising boats can get along fine with solar and wind battery charging (and probably both are necessary).
If you go for a genset, I would suggest that one not complicate your cruising lives further by adding solar and/or wind. My reasoning is as follows: one, diesel generators (diesels in general) like to be used regularly and used hard. Having your batteries partially charged by solar/wind undermines that goal. Solar and wind are complicated installs, (physically and the electrics and the black boxes), expensive, are often in the way and need an eye kept on them: why not simplify by having just a genset and run the genset an extra short period of time (15 minutes might be enough) to make up the difference. The weight saved (and complications) can be put into extra battery capacity which will serve you better in the long run.
The most sensible genset is one that produces only DC and charges the batteries on a boat directly with AC coming from an inverter (hopefully one does not have AC refrigeration). Unfortunately, there are no reliable ones on the market. (I have one and have made it work for us for over a decade now, but it has been a struggle.) AC gensets are far more reliable, if the installation is impeccable and maintenance is good, but it often takes long run times if all they are doing is charging the batteries (modern chargers may have improved this function).
Enough for now,
Appreciate any thoughts,
Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Not sure about davit mounts but we are going for Solbian than zip into the Bimini or cockpit tent. http://www.barden-ukshop.com/solbianflex-sp100-l-flexible-solar-panel-2914-p.asp
Simon

I am having a Discovery 58 built ( to replace our 55 destroyed in a fire last year) and have specified both Watt and Sea Hydrogen and hopefully 600 watts of solar panels on the davits to reduce dependence on the generator. Any other ideas about makes/types of solar panels?

Simon,
It was not a kit, I made it myself !
I suggest, if the transom is far away from vertical, to realize a special bracket (made of GRP, Aluminum or SS).Exemples here : http://www.wattandsea.com/sites/default/files/exemples%20de%20montages%20cruising.pdf

This bracket could stay on the transom, but you can remove easily the W&S, using this : http://www.wattandsea.com/en/content/removable-support

Thank you Frederic I had not heard of this piece of kit before. I have pasted below the link to their price list: http://www.wattandsea.com/sites/default/files/2013-2014_Price%20list_T6%20EXW%20GB_V2.pdf

Have just heard from a very reliable friend that something chewed their towed generator off mid-Atlantic. They never did see what it was but did know there was a struggle.

Vice Commodore, OCC