Solar Power Installations for Houseboats

by Tim
(Green River Lake)

We are planning a solar power installation for our houseboats. My slip neighbor & myself are both leaning heavy to solar panels to charge inverter batteries while tied in cove.

Question, once solar panels are sized, installed along with charge controller,etc.-- do we have to isolate on-board charger with switching device to isolate it from circuitry to avoid damage?

Also, should there be a switch to isolate solar assembly from the system once in "port" and back on utility power (on-board charger is now recharging inverter batteries)?

My thoughts are like a "Guest" 12 volt manual switches. (Not plugging for a name brand)

Thanks in advance for any feedback, Tim.


Reply - Answer
Well Tim, congratulations on your really nice looking houseboat, and also on deciding to install solar panels as a clean alternative power source.

As to whether you should install on/off switches (Guest style) in the circuit, you will find that they are often installed, just as to offer a simple way to isolate one circuit from the other.

The charge controller and battery charger generally have one way diodes (or circuitry) to not allow charge current to run the opposite way. You will however want to fuse, or limit the current with proper

If you are interested in getting a better understanding of the planning and choosing of solar power installations, have a look at our Solar Powered Houseboats page.

On that page, you will also see a collections of good solar power books to help gather all the knowledge necessary to really design and implement a truly alternative power source.



Lastly, hopefully some of our readers will share and post comments about their solar power houseboat experiences. Feel free to use the "Click here to post comments." link found near the bottom of this page.


Thanks again for sharing, IAN - from www.all-about-houseboats.com

If you're still looking for information, you can try our search function, found at the bottom of the left Nav bar.

Free Bonus Offer To show our appreciation to all of our readers and visitors, here is the link to our free Houseboat Insider magazine. Go ahead and sign-up, it's free and filled with great articles, tips, and information. Don't worry, your email is safe with us.