Thoughts about my electrical system (LifePO, Solar, Generator, etc)

[gaucho]

When I say I don't want to affect the lines of my boat anymore with windmills, and more panels, sorry. I think my good ole Passport is already at the limit of the stuff that dangles from the top and the back. Maybe I need to share a picture so it all makes sense

[gaucho]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

It is obvious you have never been around a Superwind 350 wind gen or a D400.

You describe a battery bank and energy sources that will require a serious amount of diesel running to keep in good health. I understand you feel that solar is ugly but are you cruising or in a fashion show? You decide. If you decide fashion show then buy lots of diesel.

Ramblinrod already mentioned that. Apparently there are some newer wind gens that are silent. Need to meet boats with better equipment

In my case, I might be buying more petrol than I thought for a Honda gas gen.

[Bleemus]

Another option.

Since you already have solar over your Bimini why not sell the two 120 watt panels and replace with 2 Panasonic HIT 325 watt panels? Minor aesthetic change but almost three times the capacity?

I would run each panel through their own Victron MPPT controller.

[guyrj33]

Sounds like you have a great well equipped boat.
I suggest you get the Victron battery monitor hooked up so you can truly monitor your usage.
try to use ICE power generation for bulk charging and solar for topping off to 100% with more solar you can use less ICE generation.

Is you refrigeration well insulated? I'm guessing that's where the bulk of your power usage is, increasing insulation could have a high ROI.

hook solar panels up in parallel to minimize effects of shading. I don't think you need separate controllers.

[gaucho]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Another option.

Since you already have solar over your Bimini why not sell the two 120 watt panels and replace with 2 Panasonic HIT 325 watt panels? Minor aesthetic change but almost three times the capacity?

I would run each panel through their own Victron MPPT controller.

Actually my solar panel bimini tubes are bent from a little crash I had last year , so it is in my TODO list to remove the panels, get that tube rebent or replaced and put everything back together with different mounting system (the system the previous owner used to mount them is crap and it's all corroded (dissimilar all over the place) and most screws need to be cut anyway. Changing panels is something that if it gives me a substantial increase in output power, Im happy to make.

But here I get confused. Because I have seen higher wattage panels, but apparently the voltage was completely off. So more watts but higher voltage was not what I wanted for my boat. But this is a matter I have not researched, so maybe Im getting everything confused. In a nutshell my Kyocera 120w/12v are similar in output to 325w/32v ... that's my understanding, but I might be wrong (again this is a subject I have not researched)

[guyrj33]

Originally Posted by gaucho

Actually my solar panel bimini tubes are bent from a little crash I had last year , so it is in my TODO list to remove the panels, get that tube rebent or replaced and put everything back together with different mounting system (the system the previous owner used to mount them is crap and it's all corroded (dissimilar all over the place) and most screws need to be cut anyway. Changing panels is something that if it gives me a substantial increase in output power, Im happy to make.

But here I get confused. Because I have seen higher wattage panels, but apparently the voltage was completely off. So more watts but higher voltage was not what I wanted for my boat. But this is a matter I have not researched, so maybe Im getting everything confused. In a nutshell my Kyocera 120w/12v are similar in output to 325w/32v ... that's my understanding, but I might be wrong (again this is a subject I have not researched)

Higher voltage is OK when compined with a MPPT controller.
Higher wattage is more power, 1 watt is 1 volt x 1 amp, 12 watts = 12V x 1A.

[gaucho]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

I suggest you get the Victron battery monitor hooked up so you can truly monitor your usage.
try to use ICE power generation for bulk charging and solar for topping off to 100% with more solar you can use less ICE generation.

The funny thing is already went through the toughest portion of the 702 install; I ran the UTP cable from the battery bank to where the Xanatrex monitor is now. So basically I just need to spend little time with the actual install. I have been pushing it away because I wanna take my time and really understand how the busbar/shunt/etc is connected right now. Sometimes we get an old boat, and we "trust" stuff was wired correctly. I haven't really messed with that part, and now I wanna take a couple of days to reverse engineer the whole thing and make sure everything is connected the way it should (everything goes thru the shunt, solar is connected where it should, etc). It's really easy to make mistakes when we "hang new stuff" on existing installs. Because you might inherit past mistakes.

Originally Posted by guyrj33

Is you refrigeration well insulated? I'm guessing that's where the bulk of your power usage is, increasing insulation could have a high ROI.

hook solar panels up in parallel to minimize effects of shading. I don't think you need separate controllers.

Don't speak of the devil! Yes, insulation probably needs to be redone. And I understand the ROI that would come from it. But that's a big project that requires major disassembly of the countertop and galley space. That's major surgery on a boat with as beautiful woodwork as a Passport has. It needs to be done right, no mistakes allowed as with cheaper interior work that can easily be replaced if needed to Maybe in a couple of years, when Im in a place where theres not much else to do, I might tackle such a job

The panels are right now wired in parallel (almost sure), them being 12v and the cable run being less than 10ft. But it pays to double check, as I explained before you never know what the previous owner did!

[gaucho]

Originally Posted by guyrj33

Higher voltage is OK when compined with a MPPT controller.
Higher wattage is more power, 1 watt is 1 volt x 1 amp, 12 watts = 12V x 1A.

So by going from (2 panels) 240w/12v to 650w/32v and of course a bigger charge controller (and probably bigger wire would have to run the calc) I could esentially double my solar in the same space? Ill start researching that option as well. Looks like a 1000 usd upgrade, not bad.

[gaucho]

Yeah, well, I could place them sideways but it's going to look ... not very good. Those panels are huge. Oh well, will keep researching.