Solar Power Installation . . .

[tpenfield]

It's gonna be a lot of cleaning to keep that little panel putting out the V's. You probably know, solar panels are very sensitive to shading or debris. Put a finger on a cell and watch the output plummet. Some panels have built in bypass diodes to help with this. I'd say that flat mounted, with poop smudges, 65% of rated output ain't actually that bad. It's amazing what even a couple of degrees of tilt will do for output.

I have 2 175W panels on my van, when I was messing around with them a while ago I watched the output as is tilted them (victron bluetooth app), lifting them like 2" from flat gave a huge increase in output, like 30W-50W or something. Of course, on my van or your boat flat is pretty much the only option, and since all you're going for is some maintenance charging, it's probably ok. You do have some real estate up there though, you could get a bigger panel on there. Looks like enough room for appx. 300W?

 

[tpenfield]

Yes, the panel seems pretty resilient to voltage loss due to partial shade.

Today I got the stereo going and the hand held vacuum charging on the inverter. Getting 13.5 volts at 4.5 amps so about the 60 watt range.

If this does not seem like enough, there is a 175 watt panel which would be plug ‘n play.

 

[tpenfield]

Quick Update . . .

The solar charging system is working out quite well. The boat has been sitting on its mooring all week. As I had hoped the solar panel voltage has risen well above the battery voltage and the current has come down.
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Panel Voltage

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Battery Voltage. . .

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Panel Amps . . .

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I actually had a couple of things turned on in the boat, with everything off, it is around 2.2 amps.

The forth battery bank (the one that has a diode as the isolator) is sitting at 13 volts, which should be fine. If it becomes a concern, I'll just add another FET isolator.

 

[tpenfield]

Quick update . . .

Some spillover of this project/thread into my thread on the Mercruiser Low voltage issue (an on-going saga)

I have decided to get another FET battery isolator to 'properly' isolate the accessory (house) battery, as opposed to the diode band-aid. That way I know that the accessory battery will be sitting/charging at the same voltage of the other three battery banks (Port, Stbd, Inverter).

I do like the ARGOFET isolators, now that I figured it out, so I'll get a 2-output model (they don't mnake a single - obviously).

 

[tpenfield]

Quick Update:

I’ve been away from the boat for about 10 days. The solar charging system and the 7 batteries were sitting at 14.0 volts when I checked on the boat today .

It’s really nice not having to worry about depleted batteries when you are away for a while.

Now, if I can just get the fresh water system fixed. I’m on my third attempt at fixing a leak

 

[Scott Danforth]

Now if I can just get the fresh water system fixed. I’m on my third attempt at fixing a leak

You wouldn't know what to do if you didn't have a project

 

[nola mike]

Quick Update:

I’ve been away from the boat for about 10 days. The solar charging system and the 7 batteries were sitting at 14.0 volts when I checked on the boat today .

It’s really nice not having to worry about depleted batteries when you are away for a while.

Now, if I can just get the fresh water system fixed. I’m on my third attempt at fixing a leak

What about all the electrical gremlins?

 

[tpenfield]

What about all the electrical gremlins?

Gremlins are gone now that I’ve connected the house battery and the inverter batteries together.