Solar Panel Question

[CAELESTIS]

Is it ok to shut off the breakers and charge controller for extended periods? I prefer to have the boat connected to shore power when not in use. Would this damage the panels in any way?

System is 2 x 240W Sanyos, and Midnite classic 150 charge controller into 550a @24v house bank. Today with the batteries at 87% and no shading, the panels were putting over 13a @24v into the batteries. The Midnite showed an output of somewhere around 340watts (out of 480w). I think that was due to the batteries being relatively full (or somehow my setups in the controller are wrong). This was in bright San Diego sun around 11:30am.

Your thoughts?

[Nicholson58]

should be OK. If you are worried, throw a sun cover over the panels.

[Mhorowitz]

I would shade the panels if I was going to shut off output on the other hand we plug into shore power with our rig and the solar charge controller goes into float mode. Haven't seen any problems with this.

[zboss]

Correct, you don't need to disconnect anything. The shore charger works in conjunction with your solar.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

I prefer to have the boat connected to shore power when not in use.

Just curious: why?

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Just curious: why?

That's a good question...

If you are not living on the boat (on the dock) and your solar is of sufficient size to keep the batteries topped up, and you have an appropriate charge regulator, there is no reason to be hooked to shore power.

Lots of marinas automatically tack on 5 or 10 bucks each day for power hookup, assuming you are using shore power. If you don't need it you could save yourself some bucks.

Also, all sorts of safety and maintenance issues are tied to shore power connections... Bad wiring, old connectors, stray currents, etc. that can cause fires and whatnot.

[StuM]

> Also, all sorts of safety and maintenance issues are tied to shore power connections... Bad wiring, old connectors, stray currents, etc. that can cause fires and whatnot.

And if you are going to leave it connected, make sure you have galvanic isolation, otherwise you could lose your zincs very quickly.

[CAELESTIS]

Thanks for all the input(s). Zincs last me 9+ months. I have a Galvanic isolator.

After some of the replies, I turned the panels back on. My milage may vary.