Quote:
Originally Posted by DefinitelyMe
I don't know any books i'm afraid but this website is excellent. There's quite a lot to read but it's entertaining and very, very informative:
https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/
He's talking about systems on RVs, but it's pretty much all directly transferable to a boat. Enjoy!
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He's a pretty good source, especially in regards to proper (higher)
charging voltage for
batteries, most
battery banks are only charged to 80%, giving only 30% of cap instead of 50%.
My only caution about his
solar system design philosophy is he did it and wrote it back when
solar panels were $8/watt and copper cable was
cheap. This encouraged him to use 2AWG
cables for a measly 200w of solar. Now things have changed and
solar panels are more efficient, much higher capacity, much cheaper (I've seen 59 cents/watt) and copper
cables are a lot more expensive.
Lately, I've been inclined to install more and larger
panels (if room permits) and settle for 6 AWG cable rather than 4AWG, the extra loss might be minimal compared to the output of 600w of solar vs 200w of solar back in the old days.
If the OP has any questions, we've had some great threads on solar system design, etc here on CF, or if he has a specific question, go ahead and ask it here, plenty of knowledgeable people here and there are a number of design principles that we all seem to agree on.