Not all solar panels are created equal—and you can actually minimize the impacts of shading by choosing a better solar panel for your system. The design and engineering that go into your Sun Power & Maxeon panels truly makes a difference in the amount of energy your system will produce.
Both SunPower Maxeon solar panels are built with the same solar cells and perform better in the shade due to their unique cell architecture, which is patent protected. It minimizes resistance and power loss when encountering shade or passing clouds. When shade falls on the panel, the current meets less resistance, so fewer sections of the panel shut down as the bypass diodes in the junction box are activated less often (a good thing!) This means they can power through small obstructions with only a slight reduction in power output.
Find more videos on our Homepage - scroll to the bottom section "Learn More"
We have had some customers ask about solar panels that can be articulated on a pole to better catch the sunlight. Whilst it is true that panels orientated perpendicular to the angle of the sun will perform better the gains are small and the chances are that without constant observation the boat will rotate and the panel is now facing completely the wrong direction and performance is zero!
We have read that the gains from having a solar panel that can track the sun compared to one that lays flat is only around 10%. This may have been much more important several years ago when solar panels were less efficient but today you are better off with a high efficiency panel lying flat - KISS, just set it and forget it. Trust us there are many other things to worry about when you're aboard and solar panels need not be on that list!
KISS - Solar installs should be set it and forget it!
That said there are exceptions and we have seen a lot of the mini-Transat boats install panels on poles off the stern but they are looking for a lightweight solution and have virtually no other "roof space" for panels. If you're not familiar with them these are the small (21ft) pocket rockets that race single handed in the Classe Mini which culminates in the trans-Atlantic race every odd year.
In case you hadn't explored the 'Learn More' section of our website we do have a whole range of videos at the very bottom of our homepage, some from Maxeon & SunPower, and they help explain how losses from shade are mitigated.
Here are a few scenarios to consider where you may have shade aboard: from the Starlink, radar, mast & rigging, the boom and mainsail. To be honest as the title of the blog posts suggest #shadehappens but it should be low on your list of concerns, even the photo in the middle below which is a pretty unavoidable hard shadow on the panels, which will bring down the performance slightly, it's still better than having no solar aboard and listening to a noisy generator!
Shade from Starlink, radars, rigging etc
Some shade can be mitigated against, take the photo below - why not try swinging the boom out to say portside and tying it off? This will keep the pretty hard shadow from the boom off the solar panel on the dodger. Panels on the dodger do tend to get more shade than the solar panels on your bimini so we recommend putting them on their own MPPT controller.
Some shade is unavoidable, so best not to worry about it too much and enjoy your time aboard.
Some shade is unavoidable!!
Have any questions? Give us a call we're always happy to chat solar & sailing
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