12 volt watermaker, low power consumption

[tomtriad]

I would like to install a 12 volt watermaker on my tri. I don't have much room, and I generate all my electricity from two 80 watt solar panels. I have a flexcharge NC25A/12 regulator for the charging system which shunts extra juice from the panels when the batteries have been topped up. I would like to shunt to a low power watermaker. My needs are minimal, on the order of 2-5 gallons per day as I'm used to being very frugal with water. If necessary I could wire the watermaker into the mains if shunting doesn't provide enough power to make sufficient water.

[colemj]

You would need to connect it to the house batteries and have the solar charge them while it is running. Trying to directly run it off solar will not work because the current will be varying. You need the ballast of the batteries. It may be possible to run it as a shunt using a small battery as a ballast, but that becomes similar to just hooking it to your main bank.

Mark