Solar power sure is nice !

[Sven]

We finally got the Victron battery monitor and the Blue Sky MPPT solar panel charger installed.

I'm really impressed ! The two 135 Watt panels crank out the amps and watching the displays is pretty amazing.

Since last night we've been on solar-only (except for the 110Volt heater and water heater) and the panels are doing great. What really amazed me was when the panels put out 5 Amps while it was raining cats and dogs yesterday. I thought the overcast would be enough to completely clobber the output but far from it.

We're happy



-Sven

 

[Wind River]

curious about your set up

Hello, Sven curious about your thoughts on the mppt and the voltage output of the solar panels you bought. What did you size your 270 watts for? Is the mppt efficiently converting your voltage into amps? I just bought a Morningstar 45 amp mppt and a Sanyo Hit 215. It is a grid panel that puts out 5 amps at 42 volts. The mppt should jack up the current to a theoretical 14 amps when it converts down to 15 volts. I just wanted one panel because of space constraints. Starting out with one panel to see if it will keep up with my adler barbour. I am putting on top of the bimini. Trying to dream up a way of making the panel mount adjustable to squeeze out more amps...winter project.

George

 

[Sven]

Hi George,

Hello, Sven curious about your thoughts on the mppt and the voltage output of the solar panels you bought. What did you size your 270 watts for? Is the mppt efficiently converting your voltage into amps? I just bought a Morningstar 45 amp mppt and a Sanyo Hit 215. It is a grid panel that puts out 5 amps at 42 volts. The mppt should jack up the current to a theoretical 14 amps when it converts down to 15 volts. I just wanted one panel because of space constraints. Starting out with one panel to see if it will keep up with my adler barbour. I am putting on top of the bimini. Trying to dream up a way of making the panel mount adjustable to squeeze out more amps...winter project.

I can't really tell you how well the MPPT charge controller is doing in comparison to a non-MPPT charger, but I do know that the panels and charger put out more power in poor conditions than I had expected. The most they have cranked out so far was 12 Amps at 14.xx volts but at just after sunrise, still shaded by the powerboat next to us, they start putting out 0.2 Amps and then increases. Once we turned off the shore charger we've never fallen more than 2% below full (400 Ah) but that's just with cabin lights and stereo running.

The size of the panels was actually dictated by the Bimini. I wanted the biggest panels we could fit without looking too ugly and with a gap between them for the helmsman to see the Windex.

All the cabin lights and the running lights are now LED. The fridge is a (yet to be installed) keel-cooled Frigoboat. The other under-way draw is the chart plotter and radar (Broadband, so low consumption). Then we have the water maker and the windlass and the other occasional big loads. I do not expect to live off solar alone, but we'll see how close we can get. I want to avoid wind generators and don't want to install a genset.



-Sven

 

[treilley]

We have a similar setup Swen. Two 130w panels into an MPPT controller. Frigiboat refrigeration, water maker and windlass. Most light fixtures either LED or CFL. Biggest hog underway is the hydraulic AP. The WM and windlass require the engine running. Otherwise we exist on solar alone. We also have a wind generator that I am rebuilding and will have installed in the spring. I want a backup source of power and also a little more power generation for when we use the heater at anchor. The pumps and compressor eat amps. The wind generator also provides power at night(when windy of course)

 

[Stu Jackson]

George, if your panel can actually produce 14 amps, usual rule of thumb is five hours of day light, so you'll get 70 ah. The fridge usually, rule of thumb again, takes 60 ah per day.

 

[Sven]

We have a similar setup Swen. Two 130w panels into an MPPT controller. Frigiboat refrigeration, water maker and windlass. Most light fixtures either LED or CFL. Biggest hog underway is the hydraulic AP. The WM and windlass require the engine running. Otherwise we exist on solar alone. We also have a wind generator that I am rebuilding and will have installed in the spring. I want a backup source of power and also a little more power generation for when we use the heater at anchor. The pumps and compressor eat amps. The wind generator also provides power at night(when windy of course)

Thanks for that info.

While the solar panel output depends on latitude and weather I'm assuming that the theoretical daily max we'll actually see is 22.5 A * 24 (hours) * 0.5 (day) * 0.5 (sun angle) or 135 Ah per day. In reality that will probably be de-rated by system inefficiencies so the max will probably be closer to 100 Ah/day.

We're going to try to just use the Cape Horn vane and not get a completely separate AP. A Tillerpilot like the ST1000 can be hooked to the vane to provide direction input when there is no usable wind.

Do you have an estimate for the daily Ah consumption of your Frigoboat (fridge or freezer ?) ? An Ah saved is at least an Ah earned so we'll probably over-insulate to keep consumption down.



-Sven

 

[treilley]

Oops, sorry I misspelled your name Sven.

I do not have exact figures on my Frigiboat usage. I have a freezer unit with a smart controller set to 8°F with spillover into the fridge side. My battery monitor usually shows +amps during the critical daylight hours.

 

[Wind River]

Interesting. From what I have been reading the mppt excels when it comes to boosting low light performance which looks to be what Sven is experiencing . Stu, I used the 5 hour daylight rule of thumb for sizing my power requirements as well. The other rules of thumb I have come across are to angle your panels to roughly the degree of latitude you are at. If you are keen enough to adjust your panels to the sun once or twice a day this supposed to give noticeable gains. Also, the available amp hour capacity of your batteries should roughly equal the panel wattage so you don’t undercharge your batteries. Anyway, that is just what I read. I am hooking everything up in the backyard over the winter to gauge things for myself.

George