Robin59 Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 Hi I’m introducing Lowrance plotter fish finder and a vhf radio to my fishing boat I’m thinking of having the 12v battery being kept charged by a solar panel with a controller. Has anyone had any experience of installing such a set up please? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDP Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 I've setup my 4x4, both my daughters 4x4 and my son Hiace van to run permanently off grid without needing to run any of from the alternator. However they all can charge off the alternator. Three vehicles are running renogy 175w solar panels which produce around 13amp in good sunlight. Obviously output varies depending where you live. One vehicle uses two different setups, a dcdc controller from alternator and a seperate 120w companion solar blanket. The reason this one has just 120w blanketr is they also carry another seperate Dometic plb40 battery which has connections for usb's anderson plugs and cig etc. That battery can be taken away from the vehicle to run their 35lt fridge freezer and led lighting when camping away from the vehicle. That system can only use a max of 10amp solar, hence the smaller 120w blanket, which still keeps the battery capacity charged to full after an hour or two of good sunlight. Our other vehicle setups are solar and alternator into a bcdc charger controller which provides more than enough sunlight than we ever need to keep our 90ah lithium batteries full within 1hr of sun. All three of these vehicles run at least 1 x 45lt fridge freezer, mine runs a 45 and a 12lt, sometimes my daughter will run one fridge and two small 60 and 80lt freezers when travelling with her fishing buddies. My 15ft boat has an engine starting battery which runs to a dcdc charger which powers the house battery. Again this dcdc charger controls solar as well, however this battery also has a BMS which can take direct power from solar without a dcdc charger. When I head to remote islands, I take a Victron solar controller, a 160w solar blanket and the house battery from my boat, which I leave on what ever island Im based at. I can freeze bottles of water into ice to take on day trips in the boat. I could also power the boat battery without a dcdc charger by just using the Victron solar regulator and what ever solar panel i chose. If funds allow for it, you could look at a quality flexible panel with a built in regulator from Solbian sun power, this would be the way I would head for something permanent in a boat and as simply as sticking or tying down and joining tow wires to the battery. Just to add my victron solar controller as has functions to allow for timers to turn certain things on and off, a great idea if you wanted security lights to turn on etc. Obviously bilge pumps can be set as auto functioning with float switches. Some solar panels work better than others in shade, so perhaps look at the likes of the Renogy cigs for cloud and poor light performance. Having a battery constantly monitored and topped up will also extend the life of the battery. https://www.solbian.eu/en/24-allinone-solution?_gl=1*1s3r0wv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTc5NTY0MzIxNi4xNzIxOTk2NDE2*_ga_FWBBRBJNZX*MTcyMTk5NjQxNS4xLjAuMTcyMTk5NjQxNS4wLjAuMA.. Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin59 Posted July 26 Author Share Posted July 26 Thank you so much that is all so very helpful cheers! Andy135 and JDP 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin59 Posted July 29 Author Share Posted July 29 JDP I took your advice and have purchased a solar panel kit which includes a solar controller that is suitable for SLB batteries so thanks again for your wise and knowledgable advice. Cheers JDP, Saintly Fish and Andy135 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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