C-30 CB Solar

[dbsea]

Has anyone modified / added on to the existing single solar panel on the C30 Command Bridge model? The Kyocera 140w panel and PWM Morningstar controller are not the most effective at harvesting sunlight energy, but the area is also somewhat space limited. Would love to be getting more Ah out of my solar set up.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Rather than adding another panel you might consider replacing your PWM solar charge controller with an MPPT controller which is in the range of 20-30% more efficient. If that upgrade does not float your boat, then you can consider adding another panel. An appliance energy audit may be needed to figure exactly how many Amps you need for your boating style so you can determine if one or two panels will work for you. That said, make sure you get an MPPT controller that can handle two panels (wired serially or parallel) or you can get a second MPPT controller with the second panel for solar redundancy, i.e. if something happens to one panel / controller, the other will still work. HTH, Gary

 

[dbsea]

Thanks for the input, I agree on the MPPT controller. One thing I haven't figured out what to do yet w/ regards to that is that my current PWM controller has outputs for both my engine battery and my house battery bank. I believe it's programmed to put 90% of the energy in the house bank and 10% in the engine battery, but i'm not 100% clear on that. I have not seen an MPPT controller that can charge two different batteries. In this case, should I just drop the connection to the engine battery out of the equation and focus on the house batteries? I've also been told there are higher quality / more efficient panels out there that are the same size as my current panel, and I've heard I can get 200w out of one of those.

 

[GaylesFaerie]

Not sure I understand the logic of hard programming a percentage per battery when their charge levels, use and priority can vary. Anyway, this seems like an application for an ACR if you don't already have one. At the appropriate minimum safe voltages on both batteries and the presence of a charging voltage the ACR closes and both my battery banks get charged (House = 3 deep cycle units and Engine = Start unit) by my solar MPPT controller which only has 1 output. HTH, Gary

 

[NSM]

dbsea, we just swapped out a 160 watt panel for a 225 watt panel on our R29. Similar footprint. Both the original panel and the replacement came from https://www.custommarineproducts.com/

The 225 was a bit wider than the 160 so I used 1.5” coupons to make it work with the original brackets. Pretty straightforward swap.

Haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but soon...

Cheers
Scott

 

[dbsea]

Thanks Scott! I think the 200w panel is as big as i'm able to go without major changes. The lowering assist pole for the radar mast on my boat is attached right at the edge of the current solar panel. I could replace with the 200w and the MPPT controller fairly easily it seems, and to Gary's comment about the ACR, I did confirm with my friend Martin that the ACR will also charge my engine/thruster batteries when the house gets full so no need for multiple wire runs.

 

[gswearin]

I can confirm the install of the Victron MPPT is pretty simple. Took me about 2 hours and I'm not very handy. Only hard part was trying to make sure I was connecting the house bank and not the engine battery to the controller. Luckily the schematic and numbering matched what I could see by tracing the wires, so all was good. Of course with these boats any change like this is going to draw some bruises, if not blood. Installing the new panel (275) this weekend.

 

[Gin]

As I recall, some prior threads on solar controllers have confirmed that the two-battery function of the Morningstar installed by the factory is not really necessary with an ACR in place (although perhaps it serves as a belt-and-suspenders approach). For what is is worth, though, Epever makes a dual output MPPT controller. You can find it at Custom Marine Products, which Scott (NSM) linked to. That company, by the way, was where Ranger Tug appears to have been sourcing solar panels and controllers when my 2019 R31 was built, based on the sticker on the back of my 160W solar panel.

Gini