Jump to content

Adding a solar panel...


ronnietucker

Featured Posts

Hi all!

 

I have a 240V/16A (shore power) coming into the boat. It goes through a Victron unit which controls the 3 leisure batteries (wired positive to positive) and 1 starter battery.

 

I'm thinking of adding a solar panel to the boat. Normally, I would put the solar panel to the controller then to the first leisure battery. Would this confuse the Victron, or is that the done thing with Victron units?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

Hi all!

 

I have a 240V/16A (shore power) coming into the boat. It goes through a Victron unit which controls the 3 leisure batteries (wired positive to positive) and 1 starter battery.

 

I'm thinking of adding a solar panel to the boat. Normally, I would put the solar panel to the controller then to the first leisure battery. Would this confuse the Victron, or is that the done thing with Victron units?

 

Thanks!

 

I think you need to tell the board which Victron unit you have, exactly. a photo of it would do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As MtB said... really need to know what you already have, I'm hoping it's a Victron charger of some sort, Blue Smart Charger or Phoenix Charger.  If it is then I'd add a Victron Blue Solar/Smart Solar, suitably sized for your panels.  Link the 2 units with VE Smart Network and they'll talk to each other...

 

Edit.

While your at it, consider adding a Battery Protect to prevent from overly discharging your batteries...

Edited by Quattrodave
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I use with 3 x 110ah  leisure batteries. My 500w of solar panels is connected via an Epever MPPT controller direct to the batteries. The charge voltages on the Victron are set 0.1 v lower than those on the MPPT so the Victron only charges when there is no sun.

 

 

When we are not on the boat the Victron is switched off and the solar just does its job.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, Loddon said:

That's what I use with 3 x 110ah  leisure batteries. My 500w of solar panels is connected via an Epever MPPT controller direct to the batteries. The charge voltages on the Victron are set 0.1 v lower than those on the MPPT so the Victron only charges when there is no sun.

 

 

When we are not on the boat the Victron is switched off and the solar just does its job.

 

Ditto.

 

Works well for me.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Loddon said:

That's what I use with 3 x 110ah  leisure batteries. My 500w of solar panels is connected via an Epever MPPT controller direct to the batteries. The charge voltages on the Victron are set 0.1 v lower than those on the MPPT so the Victron only charges when there is no sun.

 

 

When we are not on the boat the Victron is switched off and the solar just does its job.

 

Thanks. Sounds like we have very similar setups. I also have 3 x 12V leisure batteries.

Dunno if I'll go as much as 500W of solar, but I'll definitely be giving it a looksy.

Thanks again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/03/2022 at 20:00, ronnietucker said:

Normally, I would put the solar panel to the controller then to the first leisure battery.

 

I think you may want to connect the solar charge controller to the leisure battery,  and only then connect the solar panel(s) to the charge controller. It's to do with charge controllers needing to know what voltage they're connecting to before getting solar input, apparently.

 

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I'm connecting the controller to the batteries: I know I put the red on the first battery positive but the black (negative)? Does it matter which battery I put the negative on? First battery? Last battery?

 

Batteries are in parallel to have four batteries at 12V.

Edited by ronnietucker
clarification of voltage
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In an absolutely ideal world, it does not matter.  In the real world, "last" battery or arranged so the total of the number of positive steps from the main cable to any battery plus the number of negative steps from the main cable to any battery is the same for every battery. Even then most folks do not notice if they have a less than perfect set up.

 

There are some diagrams on Gibbo's website and someone will be along with a linky.

 

N

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ronnietucker said:

When I'm connecting the controller to the batteries: I know I put the red on the first battery positive but the black (negative)? Does it matter which battery I put the negative on? First battery? Last battery?

 

Batteries are in parallel to have four batteries at 12V.

Use the same battery positive and negative terminals as used for the alternator and fuse box connections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.