Originally I had planned to hold off on solar panels until I installed the arch across the stern, probably one of the last items I will do. The thought was that I wanted to do it once, and technology in this field was always changing and there might be some step forward before I left in 2021 (now bumped to 2022).
I had been powering my fridge by running the suitcase generator for 4 or 5 hours every other day. This was a nuisance, but doable since I have access to fuel here in Key West. But when the Boomer Flu first started, and I started to plan for what to do if I was unemployed I realized that getting fuel would be an issue. My “Plan A” was to sail out to the Dry Tortugas and wait the virus out for 3 months or so before heading off to Texas to look for work (thinking Texas had a more dispersed economy vs Key West). Fuel would be an issue in this plan.
So, I started looking at solar set ups on Amazon. I picked up a 200w (2 ea – 100w panels) “starter kit” from Renogy for $350.
As the winter winds are over I just placed the panels on the deck for now. Before next winter I will mount these on the side rails of the lifelines at the back of the boat so that they extend out like wings and can be lowered to lay flat against the lifelines in high winds (and tied down). The installation of the panels and wiring only took me about 20 minutes.
I replaced the PWM (pulse width modulation) controller with a Victron MPPT (maxium power point tracking) controller (100/20) which is the gold standard in solar controllers. The MPPT (a newer technology) is more efficient at charging batteries with the solar input. The controller was about 1/2 the cost of the complete kit from Renogy ($150).
With the Victron controller you are able to view the stats of the charging via a bluetooth connection on your phone. When I redesign the electrical system (my current project that I’m working on) I’ll add a Victron battery monitor which will include even more details on battery state and usage via the bluetooth connection.
Here is what the solar controller shows you:
- Current state of the system
- History of the last few days
- Trends of various states currently happening
I currently run a ARB 60 Quart mobile ice chest (for offroading) on this. As you can see below there are about 6 hours a day of charging that aren’t being utilized so I can probably safely add another 60 quart ice chest to use as a freezer with just the 200w of solar. When complete the boat will have 700 watt (2 ea – 350w panels) on a stern arch plus these 2 panels (900w total). I’ve ordered 2 ea, 200AH (400AH total) AGM batteries to install when the rewire is done. I went with the AGM as they are maintenance free and common maintenance tasks are the bane of my existence (I’m just not good at it).
