Solar Panel Charging - No Shore Power

Hello,

Our marina has no shore power. Does anyone have experience with being moored without shore power for a prolonged period of time? Assuming the fridge et al., are off and an extended period of cloud, is the solar panel capable of keeping the batteries full? How about running a small heater during the the winter months, just enough to prevent freezing in the head and galley? We’re in the PNW and it rarely goes below - 5 Celsius.

Thanks,
KJ

I’m not sure you would get away with a heater, but otherwise I think you’d be fine. Solar keeps my batteries fully charged when hauled out for the winter with no issues at all.


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I agree with Eric. Heating elements are one of the biggest power hogs. With the shorter daylight hours in the winter, there is no way your solar panel will keep up with a heater. If your marina doesn't have shore power, you will need to drain your potable water lines to prevent freezing. Also your water pump housing is in danger of breaking, so unless you are going to be using the boat often in the winter, I would recommend draining the water tank then adding several gallons of RV/Marine water system antifreeze and running it through all your faucets to protect the system. It's nontoxic and you can flush it out with fresh water when you want to use the boat.

You don’t specify but I’m assuming you have the factory solar set up - 140 watts solar panel with the Morningstar controller.

When we had the 180 watt solar panel with the Victron Energy MPPT controller (both more efficient than the factory set up) we could store the boat indefinitely on the trailer during spring, summer and fall seasons with everything off except for leaving the refrigerator on. House batteries never got below 12.4 volts or 75% of full charge. Since we upgraded to a 310 watt solar panel I’m not worried at all. Not sure how depending only on solar would work during winter as Our Journey is on shore power in our driveway for the winter.

The reason it’s on shore power during the winter is so we can run 110 volt a/c heaters. Absolutely no way a solar panel can power an a/c heater. Even a small 500-1500 watt DC heater would overwhelm the solar systems ability to keep the house batteries charged. As mentioned above you need to drain all the water out and use lots of RV type antifreeze. Or, you could find a place to take the boat out for storage on the hard that has shore power. Or move the boat to a different marina for the winter that has shore power.

I agree with Eric, also. We are also in the PNW. Ours is a 2015 R27 and we have never had any problem with the panels (I added a 2nd) keeping up the batteries when the boat is in the water. We don't use shore power when at the dock. The boat lives on the trailer in the barn during the winter and that is when we have it plugged in.

I ran our boat with the factory 160 watt solar panel during January, in freezing temps… on a trailer, without any shore power. I did have an upgraded solar controller, the Victron MPPT 100/30. But the panel was still the factory 160 watt panel.

She was on the trailer for over 2 weeks, in the Pacific Northwest. (Mt Vernon), I had everything shut off. Engine and house dc breakers “off”. But I left all the 24/7 fuses installed and operating.

Batteries stayed fully charged.


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Multiple mentions of the Victron MPPT.. I was already thinking about doing that, but now I’m really thinking about it! Loving Victron stuff so far.


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Watch the Ranger Tugs factory webinar on winterization. Blowing out the water lines with air (they show the method they use) is much easier than the RV antifreeze method, and your water tank won’t need to be flushed to use it. Just fill it up and go.


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I'm in the northeast and have a 100W solar panel managed by an MPPT controller. After haul out in November, the solar kept the 4 battery bank charged up nicely at 100% throughout the winter (I didn't cover the panel, just the rest of the boat). I was able to use the microwave and 110 outlets for some vacuuming and within a day the batteries would be back at 100% SOC. Of course, be sure you are starting with batteries in good condition and top off all batteries and cells with distilled water to put the charging (g)odds in your favor. GF

All,

I am in the same position. I have an R23 with the factory solar setup and want to be able to keep my boat in the water for longer periods of time without draining my batteries.

Currently my existing solar setup will only last 2-3 days with everything powered off (90watt panel)

I was recommended with this setup to accomplish this, but wanted some opinions:

2x 140 watt rigid solar panels mounted on the rails
1x 20 amp DuoRacer solar controller that will charge house bank and trickle charge start battery.

This system will cost roughly $1,500

Our marina has shore power but I only use it in the winter to run a dehumidifier. Our boat is 100% of the time on the solar panel only. Nothing is left powered on, all rotary switches are off, and we are fine all summer. If you are unable to do this on your boat then something might be wrong with your setup. There is me reason your battery bank should only be good for 2-3 days with nothing turned on.

Mario,
With a 90 watt solar panel the rule of thumb is that it should provide 22 Amp Hours of charge to your batteries. With everything off, that should be enough to keep your batteries charged during sunny weather. But there is a number of systems that can’t be turned off - they are always on unless you disconnect the batteries. These always on systems include the bilge pumps, Carbon monoxide detectors, electronics memory, etc.
If you are draining the house batteries with everything switchable turned off then you may have a budge pump running frequently. If nothing else I’d recommend take a multimeter and check the draw on the house batteries with everything switched off to see what’s going on.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that on our 2018 R23, the solar panel was able to keep the batteries charged over our gray dreary winters the last 2 years. The boat was stored on the hard, we did not have shore power, I removed the 24/7 fuses last winter and the batteries were 12.6 or higher. I even had a tarp on for a couple of months with no lasting effects.

Our R-23 stays charged with the factory panel and the refrigerator left on.


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