Help Me Spec My System

[The Vortex]

We are prepping our stripped out old raceboat for cruising. We have 150w of solar and a .4 kw wind generator. We need a controller, batteries and maybe a diversion load for the wind g. No watermaker, but we do have a norcold fridge asking for 4 amps. How much agm a/h do you all recommend? Any controllers w mppt control the w/g? Thanks...

[donradcliffe]

If you are going to live on the hook for extended periods, you will want at least another 100 watts of solar. The wind generator is not going to contribute that much unless you are in very windy anchorages. If you are living aboard, you can get by without a w/g regulator--just shut it down if the battery voltage gets above 13.5 volts. You will want about 400 a/h worth of batteries--its open to debate, but I would recommend gel over agm, as the gels are more tolerant of undercharging. Convert your lighting to LED, your laptops to netbooks or ipads, get a 100 amp alternator with 3 stage external regulator, and you should be good to go.