Battery Charging Plans
Electric auxilliary propulsion will require a large 48 volt battery bank and sufficient charging capacity. Renewable energy charging sources are strongly preferred. Two 58V home solar panels in parallel would be adequate. A small wind generator mounted on the mizzen mast would also help. A small shore power charger will also be provided.
The price of both solar panels and wind generation are dropping substantially each year. Home solar panels are by far less expensive than marine solar panels and generally also deliver higher power per panel surface area.
There are two major sections here. The first describes the three types of charge sources. The second is focused on charge control and monitoring.
Charging Sources
At this point a decision has been made on which solar panels to use, the Panasonic. A Air Breeze Marine 48v with carbon fiber blade upgrade and mizzen mast mounting kit has been purchased. A shore power charger has been purchased and returned to a distributor for reprogramming for the 48V battery bank. The following web pages provides options considered and mounting and wiring.
- Solar Panel Selection
- This page describes the selection of solar panels.
- Solar Panel Mounting
- This page describes the measurements and the placement of a solar panel mount. Due to the tight fit relative to the boom and traveller, final measurements will have to wait for the masts to be raised again. References to other pages provide detail.
- Solar Panel Wiring Configurations
- This page describes two wiring configurations for the wiring configuration of the solar panels and the three battery banks.
- Wind Generator Selection
- This page describes selection of a wind generator.
- Wind Generator Mounting
- This page describes the measurements and considerations for mounting the wind generator.
- Shore Power Charger
- This page describes selection of a shore power charger and its intended (rare if ever) use.
Solar and wind generators have been purchased and so the only remaining task is mounting and wiring. The Solar Panel Mounting and Solar Mount Metalwork web pages provide details on installing the solar panels. The Wind Generator Mounting page provides details on installing the wind generator.
Shore power is expected to be rarely if ever used. Most of the time the boat will be on a mooring or anchored out. In many places there is no shore power at the docks. The shore power connector might be used primarily while on the hard if the solar panels are not mounted and the masts are down removing the wind generator. The Shore Power Charger web page describes the shore power charger used.
Charge Control and Monitoring
Two configurations of solar charge controllers were initially considered to charge the 24V and 12V batteries. A decision was made to charge the 12V battery from the 24V battery and the 24V battery from the 48V battery using Morningstar ProStar charge controllers. The other configuration considered would not charge the 24V and 12V batteries when wind or shore power charging. The Solar Panel Wiring Configurations web page describes these two configurations.
The following web pages are related to solar charge controllers and monitoring charging, loads, and battery state of charge (SoC).
- Charge Controllers
- This page is primarily about the selection and installation of charge controllers.
- Battery Monitoring and Protection
- This page briefly describes the electronics to monitor and protect the health of the batteries that are provided by commercial products.
- DIY Electrical, Navigation and Instrument Monitoring
- There is patchwork of incompatible and expensive commercial monitoring for battery, charging, load, navigation and instruments. As a result, DIY solutions are needed. These DIY solutions are discussed here.