Building NEEL47 with massive solar & no shore power?

[Bigbird1]

Anyone have thoughts on building a boat with no shore power connection?
I don’t know why I would need it on my Neel 47 with 22,000 Wh of Lithium Ion, 2,500W of Solbian SP solar and an Integrel system ( integrelsolutions.com which removes the need for a generator). I am only seeing advantages of not installing a shore power connection, but wanted to hear any disadvantages. Thanks!

[Chotu]

Perfectly valid. No reason for shore power even on boats with much less power.

That said, sometimes things break and you need a backup. It's easy to put in a transfer switch and 30 amp service just in case. Imagine one of the expensive electrical components you are putting in breaks and you need to wait for a replacement. There's an off chance you may still need power from a little Honda generator or something.

[CatNewBee]

I prefer options.

We have too 15kWh Lithium and 1650Wp solar. Sufficient in good sunny weather, and even good enough for some cloudy days. Not good enough for winter and heating or a long rainy month.

We have shorepower and use it in the winter in the marina for heating, dehumidifying etc. .

We also have a 8kW generator. Rarerly used, but there. Just in case.

We like our setup.

Btw, what would you lose when you put in a plug, a isolator and a FI breaker / circuit breaker in. Even a multiplus is worth it for its capabilities to provide power assist on weak marina outlets, you need an inverter anyway.

[Paul L]

Seems like a really small savings to leave out the shore power. What is the plus side to you?

As to possible negatives:
You get hit by lightning and go into a marina for repairs while cruising. No solar controllers or integral gen functioning.
You put into a marina for a monsoon season. It rains for 6 weeks straight and you want to do some inland travel.
You are in a marina because the engine died.
Someday you want to sell the boat and not all owners will see no shore power as a positive.
You are in marina that is anal about only using certified shore power connections and cables.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Bigbird.

[Tupaia]

What are your cruising plans?


Reality check, solar is great when it is sunny but the "integrelsolution" is based on a lot of engine usage (albeit effeceintly) for boats that either don't sail very well or for charter where boats will be using their engines every morning and evening to hop between anchorages.


An efficient multihull like a Neel cruising full time will use their engine for maybe 100 hours a year max. You could therefore afford yourself the same autonomy with less (lighter) batteries less solar and a small gas genny for when it rains for 3 weeks.


Being on the dock for 3 weeks when it is raining continously is quite civilized and makes the cost of a socket and breaker a no brainer.

[nortonscove]

Originally Posted by Bigbird1

Anyone have thoughts on building a boat with no shore power connection?
I don’t know why I would need it on my Neel 47 with 22,000 Wh of Lithium Ion, 2,500W of Solbian SP solar and an Integrel system ( integrelsolutions.com which removes the need for a generator). I am only seeing advantages of not installing a shore power connection, but wanted to hear any disadvantages. Thanks!

Resell might see the perspective buyer walk to the next similar boat.

[garychurch]

Eventually everything breaks. Smart money is on redundancy.

[boat driver]

I have a 40' blue water sailboat with no shore power nor solar. Heat is engine and diesel. Galley propane. charging is 12v engine alternator. AGM batteries. Nothing fancy.

When not used for long periods I may throw an external 12v charger onboard via an extension cord to top off batteries.
Lighting is 12v and computers/phones/etc charge with 400watt invertor when the engine operates.
annual cruising/racing is 6-8k miles.
Shore power is an assumed solution to battery mismanagement and dock sailors.
Really depends on how you plan to use. Design future space addition if needed.

Three boats designed/built did not use shore power excepting topping batteries. All three had an internal (dry and weatherproof) socket for a 20 amp extension cord to a handful of strategically located plugs for maintenance equipment. (solder irons, electric drills, etc) with wire/plug install the simplest (no electric panel/breakers/etc) so if wanted to expand the wire was in place saving future wire chase labor.

[MJH]

Originally Posted by Bigbird1

Anyone have thoughts on building a boat with no shore power connection?
I don’t know why I would need it on my Neel 47 with 22,000 Wh of Lithium Ion, 2,500W of Solbian SP solar and an Integrel system ( integrelsolutions.com which removes the need for a generator). I am only seeing advantages of not installing a shore power connection, but wanted to hear any disadvantages. Thanks!

In a word, FLEXIBILITY! S@#$ happens! Don't be short-sighted...or arrogant.

~ ~ _/) ~ ~ MJH

[singlespeed]

If you keep a backup generator, remember to run it at least once a month for 30 minutes, under load, or you could wind up with an expensive repair. The bearings on our 5.5 kW diesel generator end seized up after three months of non-operation, because we had plenty of wind for our wind generators and sunshine for our solar panels and never gave the genset a thought, liking the quiet and the reduced fuel bill.

[Pelican 2]

My Bav 36 has only 600W solar and 600W wind generator and I stay completely of grid. My batteries are 800AH old fashioned wet cell deep cycle with a 200AH engine battery. It would be nice to double the solar but not really essential with some management of appliances. No aircon but do have a microwave (not used too much) and a toaster (used a lot). Those two appliances suck the juice down a bit but it is manageable with some of the old fashioned common sense now referred to as uncommon sense. We recently added a slow cooker that sucks 230w at 230VAC. We are starting to use that alot to cook stews etc during the day while sailing. In theory this is drawing around 20 amps at 12VDC. There are no undesirable consequences so far and no noticeable extra drain to the battery bank. The slow cooker runs for 6 to 8 hours. It is very small and a little uncontrollable (a cheep $15.00 option made in China) but works well enough to achieve a cooked meal with much less effort than lighting the propane stove.

[CATJAVA]

On a 48ft cat for 16 years and NEVER had need for shore power. We have small portable Honda generator to charge batteries thru our ProNautic charger. We have wind generator & 400 watts of solar. However, we only cruise in the tropics so no need for heaters. We seldom stay in marinas. We sail a lot! -Presently on 4-mo sail in the Philippines. Hope this helps, but, above all, remember KISS!! Evan