Cruiserguy
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2021
- Messages
- 2
Hi folks:
I’ve been watching Will Prouse for about a year now and have cleared the 12 x 8 roof of my old Krogen Trawler for solar panels. I currently run two 8D lead acid batteries for my house bank and should probably add another to separately power the windlass and bow thruster. This is in addition to 2 other starting batteries for main engine and generator.
My old combo Zantrex 3000 watt modified sine wave charger/inverter is still working but only charges three of the batteries and will only cause more issues with electrical components as we plan to live aboard for longer stretches.
I could fit 12 100 watt panels or perhaps 4 360 watt units in that space. We would love to get rid of the genset altogether, but will probably keep it for a/c and hot water, and as a back up.
It would be a dream to air condition the pilothouse and stateroom on solar only so that the genset wouldn’t need to run at night. The only other consistent loads would be the fridge, navigation screens during the day and autopilot. I’ll be calculating those loads to determine our total usage.
Would love to hear from those who have similar goals or ideas. What would you do?
What array, controller, battery setup? All in one?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
I’ve been watching Will Prouse for about a year now and have cleared the 12 x 8 roof of my old Krogen Trawler for solar panels. I currently run two 8D lead acid batteries for my house bank and should probably add another to separately power the windlass and bow thruster. This is in addition to 2 other starting batteries for main engine and generator.
My old combo Zantrex 3000 watt modified sine wave charger/inverter is still working but only charges three of the batteries and will only cause more issues with electrical components as we plan to live aboard for longer stretches.
I could fit 12 100 watt panels or perhaps 4 360 watt units in that space. We would love to get rid of the genset altogether, but will probably keep it for a/c and hot water, and as a back up.
It would be a dream to air condition the pilothouse and stateroom on solar only so that the genset wouldn’t need to run at night. The only other consistent loads would be the fridge, navigation screens during the day and autopilot. I’ll be calculating those loads to determine our total usage.
Would love to hear from those who have similar goals or ideas. What would you do?
What array, controller, battery setup? All in one?
Thanks in advance for your comments.
