Ten years ago, my wife and I bought a narrowboat which we used on the canals and rivers of England when time permitted.

In 2014, we traded up and bought our current boat, "Caxton", which is 68' long by 6'10" wide (20.5m x 2.1m). I retired in May 2017 and we immediately set off on a 300 mile trip around the middle and south of the country.

In preparation for our new nomadic lifestyle, we fitted a couple of solar panels to the roof of the boat to reduce the amount of time that we would have to charge the batteries by running the engine. We were happy with the result and eventually we returned to our base where we keep the boat in the local marina.

At the same time as we were wondering whether the solar panels would be able to keep the batteries topped up during the winter, I stumbled upon a couple of websites which detailed how the solar performance could be monitored using a Raspberry Pi and an internet connection.

A few hours were then spent setting up our own system and since you are looking at this now, you too can see how well it is performing.

Oh and if you have an interest in boating, our blog is www.narrowboat.us