2026 Captain’s Edition
Solar & Hydro Yield Record PDF
Array Configuration, Shading Survey & Output Log
- 25 Pages / 196 Register Lines A4 and US Letter included.
- 746 Live Fields Interactive and 100% offline.
- 6 Calculation Models Y1 through Y6.
- Instant Digital Access Download links the moment you pay.
The dangerous number in a solar installation is voltage on a cold morning — not current in the heat.
Panel voltage rises as temperature falls. The worst case a charge controller ever sees is a bright, still, freezing morning at the start of a season, and it is precisely the morning nobody is thinking about the array. Exceed the controller's input limit once and the unit is finished.
Model Y1 computes that figure from your own panel's temperature coefficient, so you can compare it against your own controller's limit. This record states neither — a coefficient taken from the wrong datasheet is worse than no calculation at all.
What you receive
A seven-part record for the life of the array
- A 24-line reference page for the ratings, coefficients and limits you transcribe from your own panel, controller and generator datasheets
- An 18-line as-installed record — strings, tilt, fusing, cable runs, connectors, controller position and ventilation
- A 10-observation shading survey across one clear day: what casts the shadow, which panels it covers, and what the output did
- Per-string commissioning readings with cell temperature recorded, because one weak string averaged into a healthy array is the fault this page exists to catch
- 24 monthly yield entries — two full seasons of generation beside consumption — and a 12-run hydro log
- 6 calculation models for cold-morning voltage, output ratio, baseline deviation, specific yield, your own hydro constant and passage coverage
A shadow the size of a halyard
Depending on how the panels are wired and what bypass diodes are fitted, one shaded cell can take a whole string with it. The shading survey is a single day of attention — four or five observations between morning and evening, each one photographed — and it explains years of readings that otherwise look like bad luck.
Not one published output figure. Deliberately.
Panel ratings, temperature coefficients, controller limits and expected yield differ by make, by model and by production year — and what an array actually produces further depends on your latitude, your season, your tilt and the shadow your own bimini casts at four in the afternoon. Every figure is on the datasheet that came with your hardware. You transcribe it once; the document does the arithmetic.
A hydro curve nobody else has
Hydro output rises roughly with the cube of speed, so half a knot matters far more than it feels like it should. Model Y5 derives the constant for your turbine, with your propeller, at your tow depth, behind your hull. Three runs at different speeds and you have a generator curve that exists nowhere else — and a realistic answer to what a night watch actually costs you.
Specific yield is the figure that ends arguments
Kilowatt-hours per rated kilowatt is the only measure that lets you compare your array against a bigger one, against last summer, or against a chandler's claim about what a fourth panel will add. Model Y4 gives it to you in one division, and the 24-month log gives you two seasons of it.
Installation is qualified work. This is a record of it.
No page here tells you to fit a fuse, size a cable, wire a string, program a controller or mount a generator. Part VI is fourteen lines recording that a competent person verified the installation — with their qualification and the date. Those are questions to put to your electrician, not a checklist for a Saturday afternoon.
Who it is for
- Owners who have just had an array fitted and want it documented while the datasheets are still to hand
- Owners considering more panels who want the actual numbers before spending
- Liveaboards and long-distance cruisers deciding whether the installation meets the way they sail
- Anyone whose controller has failed once and who does not know why
How it relates to the Lithium & DC System Record
The Lithium record covers what stores the energy and how the bank is ageing. This one covers what generates it and whether there is enough. Together they are the complete paper history of a modern DC installation — the one system aboard a surveyor cannot assess from an afternoon's inspection.
Technical specification
| Product ID | AML-ELEC-2026-02 |
| Extent | 25 pages · 7 parts · 6 calculation models |
| Register lines | 196 across reference, as-installed, shading, strings, yield and hydro |
| Interactivity | 746 live PDF form fields — 56 tick boxes and 690 entry fields |
| Formats included | A4 and US Letter, both fillable and print-ready, 25 pages each |
| Systems | Any panel, any controller, up to 8 strings — no hardware-specific data |
| Units | Unit-neutral — you set them and record which you used |
| Offline | No app, no account, no connection required once downloaded |
What it is not
This document records, structures and compares figures that you supply. It publishes no panel rating, no temperature coefficient, no controller limit and no expected yield, and it reaches no conclusion about any installation.
Model Y1 is a calculation performed on figures you supply; it is not a determination that any installation is safe. Array and charge-controller work belongs to a qualified marine electrician working to the standards that apply where your vessel is flagged and used.
Instant download. Your links appear on screen the moment payment clears, and arrive by email within a minute. They do not expire.
2026 Captain's Edition · Revision 1.0 · AML-ELEC-2026-02. Apex Marine Labs designs the organisational process behind good seamanship. Our documents record and organise; they do not replace a certified marine survey, an installation standard, or a qualified marine electrician.