View Single Post
Old 01-25-2023, 07:47 AM   #99
rslifkin
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,550
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff F View Post
Yeah, I could probably get up to 3+ kw without really giving anything up. It's one of the joys of a big pilothouse boat.

First I thought I'd carry the dinghy up top, then a Laser. There are two in my household. Now I'm thinking I could quite happily plaster it with panels.

Edit to add: more capacity also goes a long way. If you know that typical production > typical usage capacity makes you a winner, ultimately.

Given the price of cheap batteries that's probably a cheaper and more effective alternative to more solar. I can double my house bank from 3x daily use to 6x daily use with $2100 in batteries and a bit of cabling.

Even without going LFP I can easily double my house bank in the available space and without worrying much about weight. And eventually I'll install a hardtop which would give room for me to probably double our solar capacity.



At this point, my biggest sticking point for the eventual next battery replacement is whether it's time to go LFP or not. The costs are starting to look better, but I've still got a few sticking points to worry about (cold weather during winter storage, making sure my insurance doesn't have issues with LFP, etc.). And realistically, given enough solar, our usage patterns aren't particularly abusive to a lead bank, so I haven't had a pressing need to jump to LFP.
rslifkin is online now   Reply With Quote