Hello,
My family and I recently purchased a sailing catamaran and we are experiencing challenges with power generation/storage and are hoping to find some help.
Here are the existing system specs:
6 - 6v 220ah batteries (I don't know how to test battery capacity/efficiency but am growing increasingly concerned that the batteries were not well cared for or the two years of non-use has drastically reduced the useful life. )
2 - 140 watt solar pv panels
4 - 100 watt solar pv panels
I just installed a new 170a Balmar on my stbd eng and this has proven to be the one thing that keeps us going as the solar panels aren't charging/keep up with our demand. I understand the pros/cons of lithium and have determined that I don't want the fire hazard on board. Zinc-ion doesn't seem to be an option yet so I may have to stay with AGMs?
I completed the attached energy audit but it seems really high to me.
I was thinking about bringing the house battery bank and solar pv input up to around 1100-1200 watts, keeping the Balmar on a single engine, and adding hydro/wind generation capacity hoping this will round out the system.
Based on the attached audit and the above description, does anyone have any feedback? Anything I have not considered but need to? How can I test if my existing batteries are good and is there a way to add the additional +/- 600 watts that I want to add without replacing all batteries? (or if the batteries are bad, I will likely go with 6 - 6v 400ah AGMs unless someone has a different solution).
I appreciate any help/input.
Kindly,
Kevin Fort
s/v Blue Shadows
www.blueshadowsadventures.com
My family and I recently purchased a sailing catamaran and we are experiencing challenges with power generation/storage and are hoping to find some help.
Here are the existing system specs:
6 - 6v 220ah batteries (I don't know how to test battery capacity/efficiency but am growing increasingly concerned that the batteries were not well cared for or the two years of non-use has drastically reduced the useful life. )
2 - 140 watt solar pv panels
4 - 100 watt solar pv panels
I just installed a new 170a Balmar on my stbd eng and this has proven to be the one thing that keeps us going as the solar panels aren't charging/keep up with our demand. I understand the pros/cons of lithium and have determined that I don't want the fire hazard on board. Zinc-ion doesn't seem to be an option yet so I may have to stay with AGMs?
I completed the attached energy audit but it seems really high to me.
I was thinking about bringing the house battery bank and solar pv input up to around 1100-1200 watts, keeping the Balmar on a single engine, and adding hydro/wind generation capacity hoping this will round out the system.
Based on the attached audit and the above description, does anyone have any feedback? Anything I have not considered but need to? How can I test if my existing batteries are good and is there a way to add the additional +/- 600 watts that I want to add without replacing all batteries? (or if the batteries are bad, I will likely go with 6 - 6v 400ah AGMs unless someone has a different solution).
I appreciate any help/input.
Kindly,
Kevin Fort
s/v Blue Shadows
www.blueshadowsadventures.com
Attachments
Last edited: