Using a self contained Solar Generator on a Boat
When I first decided to do the wiring on Triumph; My Astus 20.2 Trimaran- I wanted to do it in a way that was going to be easy and reliable. In researching ideas and products I really liked the Echo Flow River 2 portable power system. It has built in solar charging. It can output both 12V DC and AC. It’s got plenty of power for a small boat system and I built the system around this unit. Im running LED lights for navigation. Running an ORCA 2 Core, a Yacht Devices WIFI Repeater. A depth sounder and an Ultrasonic Wind Meter, and an Android 10” tablet. Im also running a ST1000+ Raymarine Auto Pilot. I have since had quite a bit of time to test this system and I have to say that it works amazingly. The largest draw of the Autopilot can run all day and it will only go down about 5% on the total use of the system. I have only had to charge the battery 1 time this entire season! It’s been so nice to be able to charge phones, the tablet for the chart plotter and to easily run all the electronics on the boat with an all in one contained system.
SO fast forward to the new boat. Im going to replicate the same process but in a MUCH larger and higher capacity. This is the Delta Pro 3 with an extra battery that is going to be on Integrity. This system will be able to charge the house batteries, work as a backup inverter if needed and be able to power the Air conditioning on the boat by battery for about 12 hours non-stop and about 40 hours cycling on and off. Throw about 600W of solar on this and I will be able to top this system off in the bright Florida and Bahama sun. Im eager to see how this will hold up and work and hope that it will be as clean and easy to use as the one on Triumph. No gas, no CO2 danger, Little to no Maintenance. This should be a huge enhancement to the already decently sized house batteries on the new Island Packet. As I experiment with this setup and learn some more I will update and share what I have learned from this setup.