Where to put Solar batteries

As low in the boat as possible. Have you calculated the weight up the solar panels and how it might effect stability? I think you may want to keep a generator and run it at times, because it's not always sunny.

Anyways, if they're sealed Gel you can install them under bunks or anywhere else inside the cabin if you need to, but only sealed GEL. Or if the boat you're installing them is the boat in the picture, what about under the cockpit floor somewhere?

If your 46 is laid out like mine I would put battery banks under the cockpit up against the Engine room bulkhead.

My 46 has a lot of space in that area that you can access when you take out the fish boxes.

On one side I have the cockpit freezer compressor and storage for several 5 gallon oil cans.

On the other side (port) I just have empty storage.
For me that seems to be the best place for a battery bank because it is outside of the heat from the engine room and it is the shortest run of DC cables.

I also have room under my galley and under the hatch near the dinette in the salon.

I have also considered putting battery banks in the Engine Room outboard of the engines but decided against that for a number of reasons.

It will change the stability a little, especially in a beam sea, but 138lbs on the hardtop is not an amount that would worry me in any way. Make sure they have diodes so that they don't drain the batteries when it is not sunny.

I me a guy in Block last year who owned one of the larger Nordic Tugs.

He had it set up with solar power to run the boat.

The solar runs everything except the A/C.

It seemed like a good set up.

Sounds like a great project. I used the same batteries for my 3KW inverter. I put them under the forward hatch in the saloon floor. I engineered a hydrogen detector connected to my dryer vent motor and when the hydrogen level reaches the warning level it turns on the blower and runs the air overboard. Works very effectively and makes me feel a lot safer. I too am interested in solar but I have not needed them yet.
If you have not thought of this yet its a great trick to keep the house bank topped of without running your genset. When you are running your engines, the alternator excess current (after your start batteries are fully charged) can be directed to the house bank, through your system, to charge them back up. When I'm in the Bahamas, I rarely use the genset or the marinas. I just putt around from island to island and the alternators keep me topped off. Several companies make an auto switch to facilitate this nice addition to your system.

Hi,

As you are using Lead Acid Batteries have you given any thoughts to ventilation of the gasses they will give off during charging?

As I just replaced the batteries on my boat from flooded lead acid to sealed lead acid, I wonder, why anyone would still use the flooded ones, which need checking an maintenance?

This is the product I use now: "VARTA Professional Deep Cycle - 140Ah"

Are there any performance benefits to the "old technology"?

Thx

Yes and Yes. I engineered a hydrogen detector connected to my dryer vent motor and when the hydrogen level reaches the warning level it turns on the blower and runs the air overboard. I also installed a very efficient low power and quiet fan that continually changes the air in the hold. This dilutes the air and keeps the hydrogen level very low. Batteries gas off more during certain stages of charging. Works very effectively and makes me feel a lot safer. The also has an optional warning beep when its activated so you can know if the battery is gassing. Its been working great for about 5 years now. By the way, I installed new battery caps that connect with a hose to each other and out to a fill hose. The caps have a check valve on them that stops you from overfilling automatically. That way I could use the space on top of them for a shelve to store my spare parts bins.

Hi,

Davidoc, My question about ventilation was aimed at the OP after reading aout his choice of batteries.

You certainly seem to have done your homework with your install there is just a couple of questions that come to mind.

Is that dryer fan motor suitable for ventilating a potentially explosive gas?

Is the open end of the fill hose outside the space and does it take the place of the vent in the caps?

The dryer blower I used is the same as the engine room blowers. In addition the percentage of hydrogen in the air that the detector picks up is well below igniteable with a match. Hydrogen rises to the top of the room that it is in and thats where the exhaust hose picks it up when the detector smells a small amount in the air.

The battery fill hose is on a hook away from the battery bank and I just store a few gallons of distilled water near by. I just use an outboard motor squeeze ball to fill the batteries remotely. The caps are vented as usual. They just have an overfill check valve in the top and a hose connector for water. The end of the hose fill has a quick disconnect plug on it to keep it sealed off when not in use.

Hope this answers your questions

David

Hi,

I certainly does answer my questions.

Thanks for sharing with me and the rest of the readers here.

I agree that they last almost as long as AGM's. I have seen the expensive grey casing GEL batteries go 7+ years though in many cases, not AGM though.