Solar Panels & Lithium Batteries

Proudly doing our bit for the planet

Solar Panels have been an increasingly popular feature in recent years and also continue to grow in popularity, with guests now specifically requesting yachts that are fitted with a gantry and solar panels.

Solar Panels mean that we are able to make excellent use of the vast amount of sunshine that we enjoy here in the Ionian. The batteries stay charged even without the engine running so that means less noise pollution, less fuel consumption and importantly less carbon emissions.

And of course, being able to keep the yacht electrics running without having to worry about when you'll next need to run the engine is fantastic peace of mind - the fridge and cabin fans can be run almost continuously (so long as you keep an eye on the battery monitor from time to time).

Solar panels are now fitted on the vast majority of our yachts. You'll see the solar panels highlighted on each yacht's individual specification here.

Lithium Batteries  are installed on more and more yachts across the charter fleet. Complementing the solar panels these batteries make our yachts much more efficient. In addition to being a good ecological development, they offer a raft of power advantages:

• • Traditional AGM batteries can only be discharged to 50% without damaging the battery. For Lithium that figure is closer to 90% giving far more power in a single charge.

• • Lithium also has a cycle life 10 times greater than AGM and will perform optimally for 2 to 3 times as long as an AGM battery.

• • Lithium batteries weigh around 20% of AGMs for an equivalent usable capacity, they also take up around half the physical space.

• • A completely flat Lithium battery only takes around 3 hours to recharge to 100% vs. 12-24 hours for the equivalent AGM - a huge advantage for sailors.