From Randy Miller, Hiaqua 37VT03
Solar Panels - Two 160 watt Grape Solar panels (Home Depot $200 ea) were installed atop the pilot house and connected to a Tracer BN 30A MPPT Solar Charge Controller with remote (EBay $180). We are happy to report after three continuous months of cruising Northern BC, we NEVER had to start our generator the entire summer and only connected to shore power ONCE at a marina to run power tools! Yahoo!! After converting all our lights to LED's, our main electrical draw is the refrigerator and pumps (4 water & 3 bilge). Our average evening and nighttime electrical draw is -3.0 Ah per hour (about -30 Ah per night). This seems to be a very manageable recovery for our solar panels, even on somewhat overcast days.
Airmar 220 Weather Station - was also installed atop the wheelhouse which makes it very helpful in tracking wind direction & speed, temperature and barometric temperature changes on our chart plotter.
NMEA 2000 Backbone - was installed, integrating all electronics into one computer connection. Really nice!
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