2022 R31CB Solar Panel

[eriknelson3]

New owner here. I’m curious about the capability of the single solar panel on the roof of our 2022 R31CB. I’m assuming it was factory installed. We want to install Starlink v3 flat dish system on board and we’re curious about whether the solar system is capable of supporting it.
I don’t know a great deal about the system so any advice/knowledge is much appreciated?

Erik Nelson
Owner Invictus

 

[Maggie Anne]

The newer 31CB's have a 175 watt Custom Marine Products solar panel, with a 20 amp MPPT controller with rated power of 175 Watts. On the face of it that would be sufficient to balance the 75 watts that the generation 3 standard dish uses. Our solar panel starts producing current around 9 Am but doesn't produce full power until about noon, then it starts dropping off again around 5 PM

 

[Maggie Anne]

I should mention that those times are for yesterday, so you would have a longer interval where the solar panel is effective in mid-summer. Also I noticed you mentioned a flat dish, but I assumed you meant the Gen 3 Standard dish, the high performance dish has about double the power requirements of the standard dish.

 

[glider4]

Here’s some order of magnitude numbers.
I’m assuming your solar system is connected to a 12 volt battery of some sort to act as a buffer between the solar and the Starlink system and that you are not direct wired from the solar controller to the Starling equipment.
If your solar panel is 175 watts then the rule of thumb is that it should deliver about 44 AmpHrs on a sunny summer day.
The Starlink V3 (SV3) requires about 75 to 100 watts.
At 12 volts that means the SV3 is consuming about 8 amps.
So, if the solar panels deliver 44 AmpHrs to the battery per day if you used the SV3 about 5.5 hours a day at 8 amps per hour you would be close to breaking even. Running the SV3 less than that means you have some excess solar production for other uses. Using the SV3 more than 5.5 hours per day means you are running a deficit.

 

[eriknelson3]

Thank you Maggie Anne and glider4 for your reply’s. Very helpful

 

[Brian John]

New owner here. I’m curious about the capability of the single solar panel on the roof of our 2022 R31CB. I’m assuming it was factory installed. We want to install Starlink v3 flat dish system on board and we’re curious about whether the solar system is capable of supporting it.
I don’t know a great deal about the system so any advice/knowledge is much appreciated?

Erik Nelson
Owner Invictus

Is your R31 equipped with a generator?

If not or as a supplemental power source.

The Honda generator EU2000i is an option and will power the Starlink plus other equipment, fairly quiet, light, and easy on fuel.

Another option is an EFOY Fuel Cell, quite and rather pricey for the available wattage but a decent option.

 

[Rebel112r]

The other drains on your electrical system, mainly the refrigerator, I think would have the factory solar come up short on the amount of electricity needed. Dan

 

[Cutwater28GG]

install a 370W panel and you will be in much better shape for the daytime so you can charge the batteries while using starlink.

starlink is a power hog compared with other systems. the issue is internet access after dark. so you will want to look at power usage from your batteries and whether you can accommodate the amps between sunset and bedtime.

 

[watson1987]

If you don't plan on going the POE injector route with your SV3, you might want to consider a smaller, more efficient inverter just for the router/modem.

This is what I did on my R31 https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B14J5HumnJqIHBK. I do have the high-performance panel though, so POE options aren't even available, or at least they were last year when I installed this, I haven't checked since