Hello all, I have some questions to ask for my Dad`s fishing boat. He wants to install a solar panel to keep the two group 24`s batterys charged up for one 500 bilge pump.He has a selector switch 1/all/2/off. His first question is : what size panel would he need? second: He would like to be able to hook the two batterys up separately to the controller ,so he can turn the selector switch off , that way nothing will be on ,but the bilge pump. Can this be done? and what type of controller would he need? third: will the controller charge them separately or both together? We are looking at the controllers and panels on wholesalesolar.com The morningstar, prostar model 15m , looks like it would work,with the four battery cable hookups or is there something for less money that would work also ? Thanks for any information on this . chet
Solar panel and controller question
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Chet, I hate to throw cold water on a good concept
but you need to get the particulars on all of the bit and pieces and do some serious design work. I guess the concern primarily is to be able to keep the battery charged for the bilge pump. On my boat that is never a problem because the bilge is always dry. No water No bilge pump draw. Don't need a solar panel. So determine how much and how often the pump runs. Do you know how to draw electrical schematics? Doing that makes for easier planning. As I said there is a bunch of drawing board time to be done here before any hardware gets assembled.
but you need to get the particulars on all of the bit and pieces and do some serious design work. I guess the concern primarily is to be able to keep the battery charged for the bilge pump. On my boat that is never a problem because the bilge is always dry. No water No bilge pump draw. Don't need a solar panel. So determine how much and how often the pump runs. Do you know how to draw electrical schematics? Doing that makes for easier planning. As I said there is a bunch of drawing board time to be done here before any hardware gets assembled.
I do understand what your say Ross...
But this is a fishing boat and the whole back of the boats in the weather along with the bilge pump. We don`t know how much it going to run yet, rain plays in a big part of that figurerment. He just wants something to mentain the batterys if it does run. Theres no eletric power where his boats slipped at. we`re just looking for a rough idea of to what size panel may work? And mainly what controller will work the way he would like to wire it? Chet.
But this is a fishing boat and the whole back of the boats in the weather along with the bilge pump. We don`t know how much it going to run yet, rain plays in a big part of that figurerment. He just wants something to mentain the batterys if it does run. Theres no eletric power where his boats slipped at. we`re just looking for a rough idea of to what size panel may work? And mainly what controller will work the way he would like to wire it? Chet.
solar and chargers
as already mentioned abt needs, I would figure what the draw is on the builge pump/ load then go from there. As far as the PS-15 controller, I have one on my hunter 30 with the KC-130 panel. Might be a little over kill just for the builge pump. The people at wholesale solar are very friendly and helpfull both before and after the sale. Back to the controller, the PS-15 is a 15 amp controller so it should do the job well and i have no complaints with my system. check the link below from jim for icp solar to help determine the load rate.
as already mentioned abt needs, I would figure what the draw is on the builge pump/ load then go from there. As far as the PS-15 controller, I have one on my hunter 30 with the KC-130 panel. Might be a little over kill just for the builge pump. The people at wholesale solar are very friendly and helpfull both before and after the sale. Back to the controller, the PS-15 is a 15 amp controller so it should do the job well and i have no complaints with my system. check the link below from jim for icp solar to help determine the load rate.
Chet if the boat is in the upper Chesapeake
then calculate the open area of the boat that can catch water and figure 30 inches of rain during the boating season. 2 Years ago we got 14 inches in one week and no sunshine. This month we have been getting about 2 days of rain and 2 days of sunshine with the rain amounting to a couple of inches at a time. Assuming that the boat is 7 feet wide and 15 feet long that is 105 square feet of surface for the rain to collect. 2 inches of rain would amount to about 130 gallons of water. With a 500 gallon per hour pump it would run for about 20 minutes. I hope that will help.
then calculate the open area of the boat that can catch water and figure 30 inches of rain during the boating season. 2 Years ago we got 14 inches in one week and no sunshine. This month we have been getting about 2 days of rain and 2 days of sunshine with the rain amounting to a couple of inches at a time. Assuming that the boat is 7 feet wide and 15 feet long that is 105 square feet of surface for the rain to collect. 2 inches of rain would amount to about 130 gallons of water. With a 500 gallon per hour pump it would run for about 20 minutes. I hope that will help.
Probably no need to 'regulate'
For standard acid batteries (not Gel or AGM) if already full charged will accept 2-1/2% of their capacity indefinitely without harm - according to most battery manufacturers specs. So, if your combined battery bank is 500 amp hours, it can accept 12.5 amps indefinitely without damage .... and without regulation.
For standard acid batteries (not Gel or AGM) if already full charged will accept 2-1/2% of their capacity indefinitely without harm - according to most battery manufacturers specs. So, if your combined battery bank is 500 amp hours, it can accept 12.5 amps indefinitely without damage .... and without regulation.
Bilge pump for the open area????
The open area should not need a bilge pump. This should drain by gravity overboard through scuppers or just a hole in the side. If this rain water is getting into the bilge then you have a much more serious problem that needs to be addressed first. I agree with Ross, you should not have that much water coming in that you need to worry about draging the batteries down in between uses of the boat. I spent two years at a slip with no battery charger and never had a problem. Even had the kids leave a port open one week (it rained) and could not tell the difference. The exception to this would be leaving the boat for extended periods (>2 months) without use. For cases like that the smallest solar panel will suffice to keep the batteries topped off. You don't need a charge controler for this kind of trickle charge. You cannot set it up to charge both while the 3-way switch is in the 'Off' position though. The wires from the panel will cause the two banks to be connected all the time. This can cause a fire hazard when you try using only one bank to feed a heavy load. the other bank sees the load through the pannel + wire and tries to supply current well in excess of the wires capability. you can fix that with two diodes but that causes you to have to get the next size up in solar panel as the diode sucks up around 1.2 volts doing its job. A work around is to manualy connect the panel after you switch to "off" and then remove the panel connection before you use the boat.
The open area should not need a bilge pump. This should drain by gravity overboard through scuppers or just a hole in the side. If this rain water is getting into the bilge then you have a much more serious problem that needs to be addressed first. I agree with Ross, you should not have that much water coming in that you need to worry about draging the batteries down in between uses of the boat. I spent two years at a slip with no battery charger and never had a problem. Even had the kids leave a port open one week (it rained) and could not tell the difference. The exception to this would be leaving the boat for extended periods (>2 months) without use. For cases like that the smallest solar panel will suffice to keep the batteries topped off. You don't need a charge controler for this kind of trickle charge. You cannot set it up to charge both while the 3-way switch is in the 'Off' position though. The wires from the panel will cause the two banks to be connected all the time. This can cause a fire hazard when you try using only one bank to feed a heavy load. the other bank sees the load through the pannel + wire and tries to supply current well in excess of the wires capability. you can fix that with two diodes but that causes you to have to get the next size up in solar panel as the diode sucks up around 1.2 volts doing its job. A work around is to manualy connect the panel after you switch to "off" and then remove the panel connection before you use the boat.
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