You can fit a solar panel to just about any boat i.e Westerly, Fisher, Bavaria, Sadler, Hunter, Beneteau, Moody, Island Packet, Jaguar, Hardy, Bowman, Fairline, Nauticat, Najad, Malao, Oyster, Vancouver, and Nelson to name just a few.

Above - The Finished Installation

A solar panel fitted to your craft somehow seems a perfectly natural thing to do, sailing and boating are where we go for piece and tranquility and the solar panel epitomises this by virtue of the fact it has no moving parts and therefore no noise or pollution. Most craft have a little area of deck or coachroof where a panel can be installed, and there is no need to worry about damage to the panel as there are panels that are made to be walked on as in the picture above.

There are many panels sizes and power values so there will be a panel or panels to fit whatever your requirements in terms of power production - see the power specification page for help on specifying a system.


The parts and tools necessary to complete the job:-

Parts Solar panel Solar panel regulator* Appropriate cable* Battery clips Fuse holder and fuse

Tools etc Power drill Screwdrivers Tape measure Pencil Masking tape Sikaflex - 291 adhesive/sealant Crimper Cable ties Cable clips

* For help with specifying these items visit panel specification page, wiring and regulator pages.


We started by choosing an area for our panel which apart from a bit of shadow from the boom was in the sun just about all day, we would park the boom to the side while moored to stop this. We chose a walk on panel so if someone was clambering about on the coachroof we did not have to worry about damage.

IMPORTANT - Cover the panel with a thick cloth/blanket or similar to stop any electrical production while working and wiring until the installation is complete.


1Cleaning the chosen position - Clean the area well and use methylated spirits to remove any grease.





2 Marking out the position - Once you have a clean surface to work on carefully mark out the panel position by laying masking tape around the panel parameter and tracing around the panel marking the screw holes as well. Next plan the route for the cable which has to have a flowing curve to the deck gland/cover if your installation works out like the one here.

Waterproof deck gland/cover (this was a Solara product)

3 Apply adhesive - Applying the adhesive and sealant to the back of the panel.





4 Place panel in position - Cover the panel with a cloth to stop any electrical production while working and place the panel in position and finally screw with stainless screws in each corner.





5 Wiring the regulator - The next part is to take the wire that is through the deck/roof to the regulator. Find a good position for your regulator so it is easily monitored. Wiring it up is very basic and consists of two wires in and two wires out, most regulators have symbols as can just about be seen in the picture below.



Their are six holes at the bottom of this regulator of which for this simple solar installation we only need to use the first four. The first two holes are for the solar panel +/- and the middle two are for the run to the fuse and batterry - on this regulator they are clearly marked. The remaining two holes on the right are not used here.



6 Wiring to the battery - Next take the 'out' wires and run them via a fuse to the battery observing the +/- terminals. A simple fuse holder bought from a chandlers, Maplins, Halfords or simular electrical store is quite sufficient. Remember to place the fuse very close to the battery.






Need to ask a question!

Then visit the forum where professionals maybe able to help Solar Chat Forum




Other pages to help you with the installation are:-

	How to wire up a basic solar panel system Is your battery bank correctly wired up?
	All About Inverters in a solar system
	The Big Live Solar Panel Experiment See how our 27w solar panel performs under live conditions
	Battery care
	Looking after a leisure battery
	Solar circuits and solar power circuitry
	Choosing and using your wire in your solar system Always read this page before starting a solar installation project - there is critical detailed information displayed.

To communicate with us over technical issues please use the Solar Chat Forum, also take a look at the Solar Q&A page.

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