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#11
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
Larry wrote in news:Xns98109EBC3AAC7noonehomecom@
208.49.80.253: Geoff Schultz wrote in 6: What you need is a regulator that runs in diverter mode. Naw.....What you need is a TOWEL to throw over the panel to keep it in the shade at the dock. What's that cost? $1.39?....(c; That's a good plan until you forget to do so or they blow off and you cook your batteries. Hey, those batteries only cost you...oh a lot, lot more than a controller. Send the bill to Larry! He told you that you don't need one...that's your choice. You're the captain and pay the bills. My water heater accepts 2 heating elements. Ones 120V and the other is 12V. I know other people who have large resistors that they divert power to. Of course they get hot, but it works. -- eoff |
#12
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com I like the idea of diverting to the water heater, but most of us do not have the option to add a second 12V element to our existing heaters. One thought, would be to add a second heater in an external loop around the water heater - something like the add-on heaters that are sold for cars in lieu of a block heater. This site has the elements: http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/...204/ts/1025078 But, if the solar panels put out, say 150 watts for 8 hours, what happens when the water becomes too hot? With a small boat type water heater say 6 or 10 gal, this could happen quite quickly. Maybe then we throw the towel? GBM |
#13
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"GBM" wrote in
: "Glenn Ashmore" wrote I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com I like the idea of diverting to the water heater, but most of us do not have the option to add a second 12V element to our existing heaters. One thought, would be to add a second heater in an external loop around the water heater - something like the add-on heaters that are sold for cars in lieu of a block heater. This site has the elements: http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/...1204/ts/102507 8 But, if the solar panels put out, say 150 watts for 8 hours, what happens when the water becomes too hot? With a small boat type water heater say 6 or 10 gal, this could happen quite quickly. Maybe then we throw the towel? GBM You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html -- Geoff |
#14
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
I used diverted power from my solar regulator to run fans throughout the
boat. "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message 6... "GBM" wrote in : "Glenn Ashmore" wrote I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com I like the idea of diverting to the water heater, but most of us do not have the option to add a second 12V element to our existing heaters. One thought, would be to add a second heater in an external loop around the water heater - something like the add-on heaters that are sold for cars in lieu of a block heater. This site has the elements: http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/...1204/ts/102507 8 But, if the solar panels put out, say 150 watts for 8 hours, what happens when the water becomes too hot? With a small boat type water heater say 6 or 10 gal, this could happen quite quickly. Maybe then we throw the towel? GBM You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html -- Geoff |
#15
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"Gerald" wrote in
: I used diverted power from my solar regulator to run fans throughout the boat. Just how many watts do your fans draw? -- Geoff |
#16
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
At initial outfitting time, I had a separate 12V fan curcuit installed with
outlets throughout over bunks, heads, galley, eating area, chart table. I installed HELLA fans primarilly because they would give a reasonable breeze ..... for a 12 V fan and have minimal current draw --- for an electric fan.. So when I wanted to operate on the cheap (electrically cheap) I could have my breeze without eating the batteries. When I installed solar panels, I discovered the controller I selected(morningstar) had the ability to divert as the batteries topped off. Rather than do nothng with all the free electrons, I hooked it up to the fan circuit. "Geoff Schultz" wrote in message 6... "Gerald" wrote in : I used diverted power from my solar regulator to run fans throughout the boat. Just how many watts do your fans draw? -- Geoff |
#17
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"Geoff Schultz" wrote You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html That's great, but: - how is the water temperature controlled? Temperature should not exceed 49C to prevent scalding (used to be 60C) - Once water reaches maximum temperature, what do you do then? Seems to be of limited value if engine is also used to heat water. Our hot water gets up to about 45C after an hour of motoring at low speed. It is self limiting because of engine thermostat. GBM |
#18
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"Geoff Schultz" wrote
You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html GBM wrote: That's great, but: - how is the water temperature controlled? Temperature should not exceed 49C to prevent scalding (used to be 60C) - Once water reaches maximum temperature, what do you do then? Seems to be of limited value if engine is also used to heat water. Our hot water gets up to about 45C after an hour of motoring at low speed. It is self limiting because of engine thermostat. Just curious because I'm not familiar that with them - do marine water heaters have any sort of provision whereby you can insert a temperature sensor, which can then be hooked up to a limiting circuit? |
#19
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
Sailaway wrote:
"Geoff Schultz" wrote You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html GBM wrote: That's great, but: - how is the water temperature controlled? Temperature should not exceed 49C to prevent scalding (used to be 60C) - Once water reaches maximum temperature, what do you do then? Seems to be of limited value if engine is also used to heat water. Our hot water gets up to about 45C after an hour of motoring at low speed. It is self limiting because of engine thermostat. Just curious because I'm not familiar that with them - do marine water heaters have any sort of provision whereby you can insert a temperature sensor, which can then be hooked up to a limiting circuit? Marine water heaters typically have two heating devices in one package. The first is a standard 110V electrical heating element, connected thru a thermostat mounted on the tank, more or less just like your standard domestic water heater. The second heating device is a coil of tubing inside the tank thru which you can circulate your engine coolant. There is no thermostat in the water heater for this circuit. But the engine has a thermostat which controls the temperature of the engine coolant which is circulating in it. This means that the hot water temperature will approach the engine thermostat set temperature with prolonged engine run times. bob |
#20
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Solar panels
"GBM" wrote in news:5vvzg.53527$Uy1.48756
@read1.cgocable.net: "Geoff Schultz" wrote You can get elements that have both 120V AC and 12V DC feeds. See http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html That's great, but: - how is the water temperature controlled? Temperature should not exceed 49C to prevent scalding (used to be 60C) - Once water reaches maximum temperature, what do you do then? Seems to be of limited value if engine is also used to heat water. Our hot water gets up to about 45C after an hour of motoring at low speed. It is self limiting because of engine thermostat. GBM I would say that if you have large enough panels to worry about this, then you should use the controller in PWM mode. Solar panels don't require a load. Wind generators do. I use 1 controller for both. In real life I rarely have problems with the batteries being completely charged while cruising. I only have 2 panels that output 68W *peak* each. The only time that I have the luxary of fully charged batteries is when it's been blowing 15-20+ for a day or two and my wind generator is cranking. Remember, this is a boat and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. You can always buy a resistive load such as the one at http://www.svhotwire.com/divert_loads.html, but then you have to do something with all of that heat. I can always find something to do with my "extra" power such as making more water and washing down something on the boat. Don't go crazy solving a problem that probably doesn't exist in real world. -- Geoff |
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