Solar panel controller-where is it?

[Capt’nKarl]

2018 R-23 with dual solar panels. I’ve looked everywhere for the solar panel controller but have yet to find it. There is a remote display ,which is an optional item, mounted on the port bulkhead that’s below the dining table seat (see pictures). The optional remote tells me everything is working ok but it sure would be nice to find the main controller. The controller is NOT in the port lazaret, center lazaret or the starboard lazaret. I can’t even trace where the remote cable runs to. Any and all help would be appreciated.
Karl

 

[Hamster]

The controller on my R23 is behind the power panel in the cave. Impossible to get to. I had to remove the panel partially to get to mine.

 

[Capt’nKarl]

Thank you. That’s one place I have not looked.

 

[captg]

I am looking for it on my 2021 R27OB and I can not find it either.

 

[Submariner]

I am looking for it on my 2021 R27OB and I can not find it either.

Cockpit, starboard side lazaret, face aft looking at the engine battery.. the Morning Star Duo controller is next to it mounted vertically. It's obscured by the scuppers unless you get way down and look.

 

[captg]

Thank you!

 

[Submariner]

Thank you!

We published a video about upgrading the solar controller on an R27-OB.
https://youtu.be/2NAqsXN8BDk

We still have the factory panel but have upgraded to a Victron MPPT 100/30 solar controller. We had some great variations of weather in the Pacific Northwest the past several days as we were on the boat Wed-Saturday. Here's what I noted:

Average sun (some overcast, but mostly sunny).
490Watt-hours, peak of 132watts. (41Amps put in the battery)

FULL sun, all day, not a cloud in the sky. Gorgeous weather! 820 Watt-hours, peak of 150watts.
(68 Amps put in the battery)

Rain, cloudy, fog, all day. 250 Watt-hours, peak of 64 watts.
(5 Amps put in the battery).

And upon our return, our 2 Sunpower solar panels had arrived, sitting on our doorstep. (two 200 watt panels for 400 watts total) is what we're upgrading to. For sizing, take the wattage of the panel, divide by 4, and that's approximately how many amps per day one can expect (average).

 

[captg]

Martin,

on your R27 do you have a solar monitor in the cave area? or how do you see if the panel is working?

Cheers
Gary

 

[Submariner]

Martin,

on your R27 do you have a solar monitor in the cave area? or how do you see if the panel is working?

Cheers
Gary

Great question!

The original Morning star duo remote display is still in our cave. It no longer functions as I replaced the Morning Star Duo PWM controller with a Victron MPPT 100/30, but I'm still using the factory solar panel. The Victron MPPT solar controller I access on my phone via bluetooth. It keeps track of the past month or so of sunlight and total watts captured per day. That's where the numbers in my previous post came from.

I uploaded a screenshot of my phone showing full sun, full clouds/rain, and partial sun from last week's halibut fishing trip.
http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=79316

Here's a screenshot showing current wattage from the sun. (full sun, great day!)
http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=79319

I knew the factory panel wouldn't be enough for our needs and 6 months ago I knew almost nothing about solar power. Upgrading to the Victron solar controller made it easier for me to see what's going on with the existing panel I have. I look outside at an overcast day and wonder how many watts would I actually get. I've been trying to understand how I should size our replacement panel(s). I've figured out that our daily electrical consumption/needs are a little over 100amps per day. To get 100 amps per day I need about 400 watts of solar. (Rule of thumb for the Pacific NW: Take the wattage of the panel, divide by 4, and that's how many amp's you can expect to get in a day, talking averages). 400 watts/4 = 100 amps. Divide by 2 or 3 for really sunny days, which is what we all hope for when boating.

Or another way to calculate solar, the Pacific Northwest sees about 3.57 hours of sun a day during the summer months. (400 watts * 3.57 hours of sun / 12 volts = 119 amps). For this, you have to research the area you live in to find the average sunlight in a given month. The angle of the sunlight to the panel matters a lot. During December and January, solar is nearly useless in the Pacific Northwest. (I didn't see our panel produce more than 40 watts then on a clear sunny day at high noon).

Sun hours per day (as an example, there are many sites that publish this type of data).
http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/SunHoursPerDay.html

I'm just waiting on the mounting brackets and Solar MC4 waterproof connectors to arrive to install our new panels.

 

[captg]

Martin,

Sounds like a nice set up. I don't have a display?? I am going to check today if my controller is near the charger on starboard side like you stated. I have the lithium battery option maybe it removes display
Which wouldn't make sense.





The original Morning star duo remote display is still in our cave. It no longer functions as I replaced the Morning Star Duo PWM controller with a Victron MPPT 100/30, but I'm still using the factory solar panel. The Victron MPPT solar controller I access on my phone via bluetooth. It keeps track of the past month or so of sunlight and total watts captured per day. That's where the numbers in my previous post came from.

I uploaded a screenshot of my phone showing full sun, full clouds/rain, and partial sun from last week's halibut fishing trip.
http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=79316

Here's a screenshot showing current wattage from the sun. (full sun, great day!)
http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=79319

I knew the factory panel wouldn't be enough for our needs and 6 months ago I knew almost nothing about solar power. Upgrading to the Victron solar controller made it easier for me to see what's going on with the existing panel I have. I look outside at an overcast day and wonder how many watts would I actually get. I've been trying to understand how I should size our replacement panel(s). I've figured out that our daily electrical consumption/needs are a little over 100amps per day. To get 100 amps per day I need about 400 watts of solar. (Rule of thumb for the Pacific NW: Take the wattage of the panel, divide by 4, and that's how many amp's you can expect to get in a day, talking averages). 400 watts/4 = 100 amps. Divide by 2 or 3 for really sunny days, which is what we all hope for when boating.

Or another way to calculate solar, the Pacific Northwest sees about 3.57 hours of sun a day during the summer months. (400 watts * 3.57 hours of sun / 12 volts = 119 amps). For this, you have to research the area you live in to find the average sunlight in a given month. The angle of the sunlight to the panel matters a lot. During December and January, solar is nearly useless in the Pacific Northwest. (I didn't see our panel produce more than 40 watts then on a clear sunny day at high noon).

Sun hours per day (as an example, there are many sites that publish this type of data).
http://www.bigfrogmountain.com/SunHoursPerDay.html

I'm just waiting on the mounting brackets and Solar MC4 waterproof connectors to arrive to install our new panels.

 

[captg]

Ok I checked the location of where the solar controller should be and nothing there? No display or controller... I have a panel on the roof....

 

[Submariner]

Ok I checked the location of where the solar controller should be and nothing there? No display or controller... I have a panel on the roof....

There has to be a solar controller somewhere with a panel on the roof.

 

[captg]

There has to be a solar controller somewhere with a panel on the roof.[/quote]


Ya I would think so. It's not located where yours is. May have to put a call into RT.

Gary

 

[captg]

I found some info on my system.

I do not have a solar controller or solar display, instead my panel goes to a dc-dc charger and a display panel for that charger. inputs to the charger are the start/alt. battery and the solar panel the output is to house banks.

cheers
Gary

 

[briandunnington]

The controller on my R23 is behind the power panel in the cave. Impossible to get to. I had to remove the panel partially to get to mine.

@Hamster - Any pictures (or general advice) on how you 'removed the panel partially' to get to the controller? Does anyone know if the 2018 R23 has the controller in the same location? (Confirmed it is *not* in any lazarette as indicated in the manual).

Want to upgrade the stock unit to the Victron MPPT controller but have to find the dang thing first.

 

[briandunnington]

The controller on my R23 is behind the power panel in the cave. Impossible to get to. I had to remove the panel partially to get to mine.

@Hamster - Any pictures (or general advice) on how you 'removed the panel partially' to get to the controller? Does anyone know if the 2018 R23 has the controller in the same location? (Confirmed it is *not* in any lazarette as indicated in the manual).

Want to upgrade the stock unit to the Victron MPPT controller but have to find the dang thing first.

While installing my Victron battery monitor, I did some searching around and found the solar controller behind the wood panel in the cave where all of the other electrical controls are. It is all the way to the port side, next to the hull, tucked up in there. Still no idea how to access it, but I am saving that project for another day.

 

[Capt’nKarl]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Cheers,
Karl

 

[briandunnington]

The controller on my R23 is behind the power panel in the cave. Impossible to get to. I had to remove the panel partially to get to mine.

While installing my Victron battery monitor, I did some searching around and found the solar controller behind the wood panel in the cave where all of the other electrical controls are. It is all the way to the port side, next to the hull, tucked up in there. Still no idea how to access it, but I am saving that project for another day.

Finally decided to tackle the MPPT controller install. I tried disassembling the wood panel but even after removing all of the screws, could not find a way to maneuver it out. After much frustration, I changed tactics and just cut the wires where they entered the existing controller and it will continue to live back there, buried and inoperable. RIP

BUT that means the new controller is going in (headed to the boat right now to wrap up the install) and I will post some pictures of how I ended up doing it.

 

[briandunnington]

Finally installed the Victron 100/30 MPPT controller. As I mentioned in my previous post, the existing solar controller was inaccessible behind the wood panel in the cave, so I cut the wires and left it to remain hidden back there.

Since I couldnt install the new controller in the same place, I decided to install it in the port lazarette (coincidentally where the R23 manual says it should have been in the first place). I spent a fair amount of time un-running the wires that used to run from the controller to the house and engine battery banks and then re-running a new set from the controller to just the house bank (the Victron only has one set of battery outputs).

After a brief bit of puzzling because I hooked up the PV (solar) wires backwards, I got it all working and was able to see my (albeit anemic) 90-watt stock panel pumping out juice to the batteries. I will monitor this set up for a while before deciding about upgrading the panel.

Anyway, for any other R23'ers out there, here is my final set up:

 

[mlanger]

And upon our return, our 2 Sunpower solar panels had arrived, sitting on our doorstep. (two 200 watt panels for 400 watts total) is what we're upgrading to. For sizing, take the wattage of the panel, divide by 4, and that's approximately how many amps per day one can expect (average).

Future R-29 CB owner here. Is that the amps per battery that can be expected? Or total amps?

The boat I’m buying has the stock solar panel/battery set up but I expect to do a lot of time on the hook and I don’t have an onboard generator (other than the Honda portable I plan to bring along just in case). I want to know that I have a good chance of keeping those batteries fully charged if I, for example, spend a couple of days at anchor in a sunny spot. Any suggestions or recommendations? Any help is greatly appreciated; I’m coming from the RV world where solar can really make a difference, depending on the set up. DC only refrigerators worry me.

Maria