Charging batteries from solar panels?

[pcmm]

Before you get too deep into this I suggest you watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHZt...w4g0TP4rprKGio

Its a great series by PYS on electrical basics onboard. It will et you up to speed on alot of this.

there are bet practices for eletrical onboard called ABYC consider them like eletrical code.

basically your solar charge controller connects to your batteries and bypasses the other charging sources. Ideally you want to connect them directly to the batteriy bank by using a bus bar. This allows you to connect all your charging sources to a single point without having a lot of connections on the battery post ( this is considered bad practice) The negative will goe to a similar netaigve bus bar that is on the far side ( not the battery side) of the negative shut for the battery monitr ( if you have one)

lots of info here to go through. take your time and learn as much as you can before changing your wiring. DC seems safe as its low voltage , but the amps can be high and easily kill you.

Get a copy of Nigel Calders book as a reference Its invaluable!!

Good luck with everything.

[suiramor]

Great, thanks Stu. Didn't realize that the measurement originates from a gadget (shunt) separate from the charger. Thanks for the reference links as well.

[Jhclay]

Originally Posted by pcmm

Before you get too deep into this I suggest you watch:

Its a great series by PYS on electrical basics onboard. It will et you up to speed on alot of this.

there are bet practices for eletrical onboard called ABYC consider them like eletrical code.

basically your solar charge controller connects to your batteries and bypasses the other charging sources. Ideally you want to connect them directly to the batteriy bank by using a bus bar. This allows you to connect all your charging sources to a single point without having a lot of connections on the battery post ( this is considered bad practice) The negative will goe to a similar netaigve bus bar that is on the far side ( not the battery side) of the negative shut for the battery monitr ( if you have one)

lots of info here to go through. take your time and learn as much as you can before changing your wiring. DC seems safe as its low voltage , but the amps can be high and easily kill you.

Get a copy of Nigel Calders book as a reference Its invaluable!!

Good luck with everything.

Thanks for the Youtube link. It's a really good refresher.

[tomtriad]

If you have two or more different batteries (unequal size or condition) you don't want to hook them up in parallel when charging. The bigger pig (less charged) will draw down the other(s). Especially true if you have dissimilar battery types (AGM and flooded for instance). If you chronically undercharge a battery you reduce its life considerably.

[sailcrazy]

following. Never to old to learn something new...or even the right way to do it!