diy solar

diy solar

Next round coming soon...

W

willo

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
450
So I've got my 915Ah pack with OrionJr2 BMS sorted and working with my Cerbo GX, Quattro and MPPTs.
Once I finish my new hard bimini I'll get my 530w panels up. I'm still a little torn on either 2 or 3. At this point I just want to see the end of the tunnel!

As a bonus, I decided to upgrade my charging game. I picked up a Balmar 140A 28v alternator, a WS500 regulator and a serpentine belt upgrade for my Beta 50 engine.

My start and windlass batteries are AGM for now, but I'm adding a 30A 24/12 charger to maintain those. With the removal of the old alternator system, I can trivially update those to lifepo4.

Anyway, once my wallet stops crying it should be pretty cool. Given the size of my pack, I really wanted to be able to top it up on poor solar days.
 
Honestly I wanted to go for another 305 in the pack but prices had gone up on me.
 
The windlass is built for 12v. It's a $300 motor swap and another new contactor to make it use 24v. I have enough work for now, so it's on my future nice to have list. As it is, I'm already swapping out the old contactor to add reversing, adding wireless controls and making my own chain counter (with nmea 2000 output)
Along the same vein, I also have electric heads. The 24v motors for those are like 150-200 each. My starter is 12v as well (I might just have a shop make up a 24v version for me).

Point is there's enough 12v that I'll be keeping a 12v pack around for some time.

From a redundancy standpoint, I like having it. I know that if I burn down my 24v pack, I have a nice 12v reserve for starting, running lights, etc.
 
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