I'm considering a solar project for our H410 and am looking for advice...
I will likely get an arch fabricated that can hold solar panels and davits in the stern of the boat with the hope of mounting 200-300 watts of solar wired in series. All will run through an MPPT controller mounted close to the battery bank. My reasoning for series is to keep the wire gauge lower for the long run back to the bank/mppt.
I am also considering replacing the factory small deck solar panel with what is offered here at SBO.
https://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/part.php?m=410&c=15&p=55119
I have a single house bank of 750 a/hr with six individual 6V Trojan 125's and one 12V starting battery.
Now the questions:
1) Would I be better off running the small panel on the roof deck to only the starter battery rather than the battery switch? Conversely the big bank solar would only deal with the house bank. Or...would I be better off running all through both banks combined.
My concern is that combined the starter battery will be getting sent bulk charge when it's not necessary, or the house bank will get float charging when it needs bulk because of the difference in size between the two. (750 ah deep cycle versus 125 ah and minimal cycling.)
2) Can I later on add flexible panels to my bimini/dodger and combine them further in series to the other panels provided the MPPT controller can manage the voltage? Or does each set of panels need its own MPPT controller? If so how does one ensure that bulk/absorb/float gets achieved properly?
The loads on the boat are the factory refrigeration/freezer, plus electronics, lights, and sparking up the espar hydronic to either heat the entire boat, or just the hotwater tank depending on the season. Interior lights are all LED, biggest draw is the fridge and exterior lights, followed by electronics when sailing (autohelm, chartplotter, stereo), the espar probably only uses 5-10 amps a day max in summer sailing.
I will likely get an arch fabricated that can hold solar panels and davits in the stern of the boat with the hope of mounting 200-300 watts of solar wired in series. All will run through an MPPT controller mounted close to the battery bank. My reasoning for series is to keep the wire gauge lower for the long run back to the bank/mppt.
I am also considering replacing the factory small deck solar panel with what is offered here at SBO.
https://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/part.php?m=410&c=15&p=55119
I have a single house bank of 750 a/hr with six individual 6V Trojan 125's and one 12V starting battery.
Now the questions:
1) Would I be better off running the small panel on the roof deck to only the starter battery rather than the battery switch? Conversely the big bank solar would only deal with the house bank. Or...would I be better off running all through both banks combined.
My concern is that combined the starter battery will be getting sent bulk charge when it's not necessary, or the house bank will get float charging when it needs bulk because of the difference in size between the two. (750 ah deep cycle versus 125 ah and minimal cycling.)
2) Can I later on add flexible panels to my bimini/dodger and combine them further in series to the other panels provided the MPPT controller can manage the voltage? Or does each set of panels need its own MPPT controller? If so how does one ensure that bulk/absorb/float gets achieved properly?
The loads on the boat are the factory refrigeration/freezer, plus electronics, lights, and sparking up the espar hydronic to either heat the entire boat, or just the hotwater tank depending on the season. Interior lights are all LED, biggest draw is the fridge and exterior lights, followed by electronics when sailing (autohelm, chartplotter, stereo), the espar probably only uses 5-10 amps a day max in summer sailing.