Solar panel project completed

[tonyiiiafl]

I have solar on my house, and decided this winter to put it on the hardtop of my 390. I bought a 400Watt system from Renogy Solar. 4 100 watt panels and an MPPT 40Amp controller. I put 2 panels each in serial and then hooked into parallel This way if one bank goes down, then I will still have 1/2 system running. Elevator bolts were mounted to panels and then secured to the hardtop with 3M 4200. SOLID as ever. Used a hole saw (I needed a few drinks before drilling the hard top!) and made a 2” hole through the top to the middle. Then another by the port front of the hardtop. Fish taped the cables through and then drilled ANOTHER 1.5” hole into the trailing edge of the radar arch. Fed wires in and down to salon and through the chase behind the salon. I mounted the controller in the cubby where the central back is. Plenty of circulation of air. Wired into the house bank. I did place a disconnect switch between the input of solar panels and controller so it can be shut off if needed. fused on each side of the controller. More tedious than I anticipated, but looks like it will be totally worthwhile. Photos attached, and will report back as to how it functions as we got forward. Enough tools to build a house were out! LOL!!!

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[g36]

Looks like a awesome install, congratulations

[Viper]

[pepmyster]

Nice!!!!!!

[bud37]

Yes, funny about the tools.....I feel sorry for anyone that buys a boat and does not have the mechanical skill or the huge amount of tools it takes to do these jobs right. But after a number of years there will be a good chance that you may have both of those things and more in the tool box.......

[RGrew176]

Looking good.

[yves386]

Hello.

I have different situation, i need to connect 2pannels on north and 2 panels south. Can be a problem when one side won’t have sun? Parallel connection.

[km1125]

QR_BBPOST Hello.

I have different situation, i need to connect 2pannels on north and 2 panels south. Can be a problem when one side won’t have sun? Parallel connection.

If all four are in parallel, then you'll lose the capacity of the ones that aren't getting full sun or are shaded but you'll still have the capacity of the ones that are in full sun. However, since they're in parallel they are also going to be overall less efficient because of the voltage drop down to the load, so when all four are in full sun you're not going to get as much capacity as you could if they (or at least some) are in series.

[tonyiiiafl]

KM, 100% correct. That's why I went series/parallel. I will ALWAYS get at least 1/2 power, and have been getting full mostly . Yes, the voltage drop is HUGE and will also require heavier cabling to carry the load.

[kristaevans]

It sounds like you're making some great progress with your solar setup! I recently installed solar panels on my own boat, and it's been a game changer, especially when it comes to keeping the batteries topped off without relying on shore power. If you're considering expanding your setup or want to optimize what you already have, you might want to explore options for integrating more solar energy into your system.