I recently acquired my first boat, a Cape Dory 27. During my search for a boat, I had found a Pearson 303 that I had decided I would be ok with and scheduled a survey. In my excitement, I got the cart before the horse a bit and ordered some components to add solar to the boat. Then the survey revealed some undesirables and I walked away. Now, with the smaller CD27, I have these components and would like some input on whether to try and make them work. I welcome suggestions for alternative solutions.
A little background to help frame this up. I intend to spend 2-4 weeks at a time on the boat building sea service time so I can sit for my captains license exam. I will be on anchor most of the time and would like to know I have ample power for lighting, small fridge, autopilot, AIS, keeping tablet and phone charged, plus at least one 120 VAC outlet hardwired to the inverter. I currently have two 75 Ah AGM batteries.
The components I previously acquired are:
2 - Rich Solar 200W panels https://a.co/d/0yLul7J
1 - GIANDEL Pure Sine Wave Power inverter https://a.co/d/iyY171a
1 - Renogy Rover 40A MPPT Bluetooth solar charge controller https://www.renogy.com/rover-li-40-amp- ... ct-reviews
I worked a couple of decades in low voltage access control and surveillance industry, but don't have much experience with solar specifically.
Adding solar to a Cape Dory 27
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gartonjh
- Bottom Sanding Grunt
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sat Oct 21, 2023 9:07 am
- Boat Name: Beau Quest
- Boat Type: Cape Dory 27
Re: Adding solar to a Cape Dory 27
I'm also looking at replacing one of the AGM batteries with two of these which will fit in the same space in my battery box. https://ipowerqueen.com/products/power- ... n-100a-bms
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atomvoyager
- Moderator | Revitalizer of Classics
- Posts: 421
- Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:48 am
- Boat Name: Atom
- Boat Type: Pearson Triton
- Contact:
Re: Adding solar to a Cape Dory 27
Welcome to the group. Maybe someone here can chime in with their experience on this. Meanwhile, I'd say you might be able to fit one 200w panel on a solar arch and save the other one for future use. Running the fridge 24/7 might be too much for only a 200ah battery bank when you have long spells of cloudy days so you may need to add another battery. For now you can try it as is and monitor it.
The lithium battery introduces complications when combined with AGM. The standard diesel alternator does not get along with lithium. You need to confirm your solar charge controller will handle lithium and then isolate your AGM and lithium banks. Earlier you mentioned you might upgrade to this 50A controller, maybe because it can handle two different battery types and banks?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093BB5JKF?th=1
It's way oversized for you but if it solves the two battery type charging issue then it may work. Or you can isolate the two banks, charge the house lithium with solar and the engine AGM with the diesel alternator and small 10A shore power charger. I did a somewhat complicated workaround for this issue on a boat on my youtube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAb5_IiaTK4
The lithium batteries you linked to don't say how they got them smaller in size and weight but sounds suspicious. I wouldn't buy any until reading positive independent reviews.
The 2200w inverter has some nice features and hard wire terminals you don't often see on these type inverters. If you read the one star reviews on amazon it appears at least some of them have a problem with lithium battery high voltage disconnect so you may need to set your solar charge controller for a lower than ideal voltage. It seems oversize for your situation though so if it breaks down you can replace it with something smaller and less expensive that has better reviews. You don't need the hardwire option because you can plug in an extension cord to its outlet, run the cord hidden to your receptacle box, cut off the female end and hard wire to the box.
The lithium battery introduces complications when combined with AGM. The standard diesel alternator does not get along with lithium. You need to confirm your solar charge controller will handle lithium and then isolate your AGM and lithium banks. Earlier you mentioned you might upgrade to this 50A controller, maybe because it can handle two different battery types and banks?: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093BB5JKF?th=1
It's way oversized for you but if it solves the two battery type charging issue then it may work. Or you can isolate the two banks, charge the house lithium with solar and the engine AGM with the diesel alternator and small 10A shore power charger. I did a somewhat complicated workaround for this issue on a boat on my youtube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAb5_IiaTK4
The lithium batteries you linked to don't say how they got them smaller in size and weight but sounds suspicious. I wouldn't buy any until reading positive independent reviews.
The 2200w inverter has some nice features and hard wire terminals you don't often see on these type inverters. If you read the one star reviews on amazon it appears at least some of them have a problem with lithium battery high voltage disconnect so you may need to set your solar charge controller for a lower than ideal voltage. It seems oversize for your situation though so if it breaks down you can replace it with something smaller and less expensive that has better reviews. You don't need the hardwire option because you can plug in an extension cord to its outlet, run the cord hidden to your receptacle box, cut off the female end and hard wire to the box.