Solar, Batteries, Power and what the heck am I doing?

[MarkJ]

A) you can not charge anything at night.
B) a battery monitor will help you but the Xantrex Linklite I am buying this week is $300 plus fitting.
C) i have been using a volt meter for the 6 years cruising and it teaches you a lot about your system
D) anyone who says write down you boats electrical consumption of a day is nuts, they have rocks in their head and their brains are a sandwich short of a full picnic.
E) I hate to recommend a book to anyone, but maybe you really could do with one. Theres one famous one that someone here will remember the name of

To cuddle your electrical system every day, to talk to it, to soothe its feelings and to never use an inverter at night will mean you truly love your electrical system and after many years it will do what you need it to do. Its the only way!!