Boat Solar Sizing Calculator

Calculate the solar array a boat needs to replace its daily energy use, with indicative peak-sun-hours for Australian cruising regions from Darwin to Hobart.

Boat solar sizing calculator

Solar is sized from daily energy, not from panel watts. Work out what you consume in a day, then how many usable sun-hours your cruising region actually delivers in the worst month you intend to use the boat.

Wh/day

3.00 kWh per day

Use the worst month you cruise in, not the annual average.

Controller loss, heat derating, soiling, cable loss and shading.

1,000 W
of array, rounded to the nearest 50 W
Calculation
3,000 Wh ÷ 4.0 h ÷ 0.75 = 1,000 W
Energy to replace each day
3.00 kWh
Array needed by region, winter vs summer
WinterSummer

To replace 3.0 kWh/day at 75% system efficiency. The length of each line is the seasonal swing — in Hobart the winter array is nearly three times the summer one, which is why an annual average is the wrong number to size from.

Hobart2,200Melbourne1,800Adelaide1,600Perth / Fremantle1,350Sydney / Pittwater1,250Brisbane / Gold Coast1,000Cairns850Darwin700watts of array

Indicative peak-sun-hours for comparing locations. Check Bureau of Meteorology solar exposure data for your own cruising ground and season before committing to an array.

RegionWinter sun-hoursArray neededSummer sun-hoursArray needed
Darwin5.6700 W5.4750 W
Cairns4.8850 W4.9800 W
Brisbane / Gold Coast4.01,000 W5.4750 W
Sydney / Pittwater3.21,250 W5.4750 W
Melbourne2.21,800 W5.6700 W
Adelaide2.51,600 W6.0650 W
Perth / Fremantle3.01,350 W6.4650 W
Hobart1.82,200 W5.2750 W

Regional sun-hours are indicative planning figures for comparing locations. Check the Bureau of Meteorology solar exposure data for your actual cruising ground and season before committing to an array size.

A planning calculation, not a yield guarantee. Rig, boom, antenna and sail shading can cost far more than any of the factors above, particularly on a monohull; splitting the array across multiple MPPT controllers limits the damage. Panel output also falls as panel temperature rises, which on an Australian summer deck is considerable.

Solar is sized from daily energy, not from panel watts, and not from the size of the arch you happen to have. The calculation is simple. Getting honest inputs is the hard part.

The three inputs

Daily energy use. Measured over a realistic period, not estimated from nameplates. A shunt-based battery monitor will tell you this in a week of normal use, and the number is almost always higher than owners expect.

Peak sun hours. Not hours of daylight — the equivalent hours at full rated irradiance. This varies enormously across Australia and across the year. Hobart in winter and Darwin in winter are not the same problem, and sizing an array from an annual average will leave you short in exactly the season you notice.

System efficiency. Everything between the panel's rating and the energy that reaches the battery: controller losses, temperature derating, soiling, cable loss and shading. A planning figure around 75% is common; a heavily shaded rig deserves less.

Size for the worst month you actually cruise

An array that covers your consumption in December and falls 40% short in June is not a 12-month system. Decide which months matter, then size for the worst of them. If the boat is only used in summer, size for summer and say so.

Shading costs more than any other factor

On a monohull, boom, rigging, antenna and sail shadows move across the array all day. Because of how panels are wired internally, a shadow across part of one panel can cost far more than its share of the array's output.

Two practical responses: split the array across multiple MPPT controllers so a shaded group does not drag down an unshaded one, and place panels where the rig does not sweep over them, even at the cost of a smaller total array.

Panel watts are measured in a laboratory

Rated output is measured at a standard cell temperature that an Australian deck rarely delivers. Output falls as panel temperature rises, so a panel bolted flat to a hot deck produces meaningfully less than the same panel with air moving under it. Mounting for airflow is free performance.

Then check the rest of the chain

An array that can replace your daily energy is necessary, not sufficient. The controller must be sized for the array, the cabling for the current, and the battery must be able to accept the charge current the array can deliver on a good day. Check the battery's charge-current limit and the BMS charge rating before finalising an array.


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