the boat electrical system
Electrical Systems: We have 2 electrical systems on board. If we are plugged into "shore power" at a dock, we can use AC power and we have the "normal" household outlets. If we are anchored out, or sailing on a passage, we use a DC electrical system run off of batteries.
Our battery bank consists of 3 183AmpHour Gel-Cel batteries, for a total of 550 Amphours total. We will cycle this "battery bank" between 50% - 90% full, giving us about 220Amphours total to use. The battery bank is monitored by a Tri-metric battery monitor. We also have one dedicated starting battery, separate from the "house bank", so we can always start our engine.
We charge our batteries 3 different ways. When on shore power, our inverter/charger charges our battery bank. When using our engine, our alternator on the engine charges the batteries. When sailing or at an anchorage, we use a wind generator and/or solar panels to charge the batteries.
Renewable Energy System: We have 2 Sharp 80 watt solar panels. They live off the cockpit side rails, and have been designed to swivel up or down so we can point them towards the sun. We have a Blue Sky solar boost 2000e charge controller to regulate the charge to our battery bank.
We also have a KISS wind generator on a pole off the stern. I chose the KISS because it is simple, solidly-built, quiet, and puts out the juice when there is at least 7-8 knots of wind. At 10 knots of wind, it will put out about 2 amps of power, but power output will dramatically increase with wind speed. It puts out around 9 amps in 15 knots of wind, and 18 amps in 20 knots of wind. All wind generators are a compromise, but this one seems to have the most bang for the buck with amount of power produced, plus the lack of noise it creates. The energy is controlled by a Trace C-40 contoller.
