Hi all!
First post on here. I've been lurking for a few months and learned plenty and now I would like your opinions on something I have on my mind.
First my back story:
There is shore power at my marina, but not at my slip. We don't consume much power - no fridge: we have an ice box, and some simple electronics. But still I want to keep on top of my electrical charge.
I own a Mega 30 and with its unusual deck shape, I can't really find a place to put sufficient solar panels. I do place one on the fore deck when we are docked but it isn't mounted permanently because it would interfere with the headsail, so it doesn't provide power when we are sailing.
Here's what I have in mind:
I plan to put a permanently mounted dock box at my slip, I have lots of space so it can be a big one. I'm thinking I could mount solar panels that feed to a power supply in the dock box therefore charging independently all day. Then when I come back from sailing, I could plug in and have that reserve of power charge my onboard batteries. Also when I am docked, I would have more solar power feeding my batteries than just the one on the boat. Allowing for more power consumption at the dock.
The boat has a shore power plug that charges the onboard batteries. So I suppose I could have the battery box feed an inverter that would then be changed back into DC by the onboard system to charge the batteries. That also gives me access to AC power at the dock if needed. I figure it is simpler that way, since I don't have to alter my boat and can still use the boats shore AC plug if I find myself somewhere else and having access to short power.
I hope that makes sense...
What are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance for your input.
First post on here. I've been lurking for a few months and learned plenty and now I would like your opinions on something I have on my mind.
First my back story:
There is shore power at my marina, but not at my slip. We don't consume much power - no fridge: we have an ice box, and some simple electronics. But still I want to keep on top of my electrical charge.
I own a Mega 30 and with its unusual deck shape, I can't really find a place to put sufficient solar panels. I do place one on the fore deck when we are docked but it isn't mounted permanently because it would interfere with the headsail, so it doesn't provide power when we are sailing.
Here's what I have in mind:
I plan to put a permanently mounted dock box at my slip, I have lots of space so it can be a big one. I'm thinking I could mount solar panels that feed to a power supply in the dock box therefore charging independently all day. Then when I come back from sailing, I could plug in and have that reserve of power charge my onboard batteries. Also when I am docked, I would have more solar power feeding my batteries than just the one on the boat. Allowing for more power consumption at the dock.
The boat has a shore power plug that charges the onboard batteries. So I suppose I could have the battery box feed an inverter that would then be changed back into DC by the onboard system to charge the batteries. That also gives me access to AC power at the dock if needed. I figure it is simpler that way, since I don't have to alter my boat and can still use the boats shore AC plug if I find myself somewhere else and having access to short power.
I hope that makes sense...
What are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance for your input.