Installation of Solar Panels

Julian always requires a project and when we are not renovating a house, or helping our children with building projects, he does not sit and twiddle his thumbs but he thinks of another idea to make our life on the boat even better, or to increase efficiency in some way.  Currently he is putting his mind to solar panels.

Oh dear, our panel supports are ready for sun not rain!

Our power on the boat comes from shore power electricity that we pay through the boatyard (no standing charge so it works out pretty reasonable), and oil that powers most of our radiators.  A few of the radiators are also electric. We have an electric car.  So as we are in a sunny spot, we want to make the most of this free power and are working out ways to install solar panels in a that won't detract from the clean lines of our beautiful boat.

Julian starts by fixing the solar panel supports onto the roof of the captain's accommodation with magets!

We don't want to make holes in our boat so Julian has done the maths and calculated that solar panel supports can be fixed by powerful magnets.  By doing a lot of the work ourselves, we hope to save money and the solar people can focus on installing the panels, wiring and the batteries.   

Installation complete.

The solar company we used is the same one that our son used for his solar panels.  They are called Batteries and Solar Ltd from Plymouth and we have found them to be reasonably priced and very knowledgeable.

Very unobtrusive.

Our solar panels make electric almost free in the summer and we can even charge the car on them in the best of weather. 

The amount of electricity that is being generated can be seen on a phone app and it's quite interesting and satisfying to see the free electricity being absorbed by the panels.  There was a little bit of tweeking to get the maximum efficiency to begin with, but they are working very well.

Captain's accommodation renovation.

We want to get some money back after all the expense of the past year, but first we have to spend some more! 

We love the old skippers quarters and we feel it would make the most enchanting guest room and Air B&B accommodation.  So we plan to roll our sleeves up once more, don the facemask and get cracking!

First job is to take out everything that is not part of the final layout and start sanding the floor.

The floor is stained a dark colour.  We need to remove all that and then seal it with Osmo wax oil.
Finally we must cover it to ensure does not get damaged during the forthcoming programme of work.

A panel from the former high bed area repurposed as a wall.
Precision cutting was required to ensure that the pannels remained intact.

We spent a lot of time on the skippers accommodation to make it a comfortable place for guests.  We even considered moving in there ourselves, but it really is self contained and works better as a guest room.

The same same wall shown in place behind TV.  New kitchenette is on the right. 
One of the etched sliding doors closed to the left.

New flushing plumbed in loo and a vintage small sink.
Closed by another of the original etched sliding doors.

On the other side of the lobby,
with another etched sliding door is the shower room.

A small kitchenette enables the captain's accommodation to function like a hotel room.

One of the problems we had to overcome in this space was that is was split level.  If we wanted a kingsized bed, the bed had somehow had to straddle the step without looking odd.  

We spent ages puzzling over this wondering how it would look.  Anyhow, we bought an antique bed of similar age to the other original 1930's fittings.  One that had a hight footboard.  All we had to do was reposition the footboard so that the bed base remained level whilst the bed straddled the step.

This is now tried and tested over a year's rentals with no problems at all.  The overwhelming reaction from guests apart from enjoying the views and the comforts is that is is so much more spacious than they imagined!

Split level, but the bed is tailor made to remain level!

We carpetted the raised area, and completed the painting of walls and ceiling that had been refurbished and re-insuated.  Other furniture was sourced and soft furnishings and curtains complete the look.

We love the comments that we get from our fully functioning Air B&B.  Guests have their own entrance through the wheelhouse.  The wheelhouse is also their own private space to enjoy watching the tides and the wildlife and the comings and goings of the boat yard and rivercraft.  We have out own lovely welldeck with its protective canopy and we spend a lot of time in there throughout the summer and the cooler seasns because it is an absolute sun trap.  Guests come and go, we each have enough privacy, but there are also chances to say hello and be sociable depending on whether we open or close up the sides.

Guests walk along the gunnels to the wheelhouse

View from the wheelhouse

Steps into wheelhouse

Exterior of captain's accommodation

Wheelhouse

Wheelhouse

Position within the boatyard.