Solar chargi g

[rickasbury]

I tecently had a problem with the city and bringing my boat home to charge is now a problem. I have two batteries on a battery switch. Can I reasonably get enough juice to them to keep them alive? The boat is a Rinker 270 express cruiser, the batteries are a long way from the outside of the boat to mount solar panels...a good 6' at minimum....what can I set up?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Depends.....

How often do you head out?
Is the boat stored outside or inside?
How low do the batteries get?
Any parasitic loads?

Our RV has a 250 watt panel and keeps two group 27 batteries charged. We use it at least once a month

You could always set up a 2-bank or 3-bank noco charger and a power outlet like I have on my boat

 

[mike_i]

Anything is possible. It depends on the number of panels and the orientation.

 

[KD4UPL]

You absolutely can keep the batteries charged with solar. Reasonably is anyone's guess.
I install off grid solar for a living. A six foot run of wire is nothing. You need panels, a good charge controller, wires, mounting hardware, and a few other bits.
Flexible stick on solar panels work well on a hardtop. Rectangular RV panels make more power per area. Residential sized panels are the cheapest, especially on the used market.

 

[roscoe]

I bought a BLUETTI Elite 30 V2 power station, and a 200 watt panel, for use when we camp off grid. Its a good quality unit, not like the el-cheapo knock off units.





Keeps our lanterns, phones, and the boat battery charged all week.
We put the panel out, plug the power station in, go fishing.
Then at night we put the power station in the boat and hook up to the battery.

You could just put yours in the boat and keep it hooked up. Just make sure you get a good panel and have someplace to place it.