lifeline solar

[sawingknots]

does anyone have any experience with a lifeline solar battery setup?i bought a concorde pvx-2580l 12 volt 258ah agm battery and a morningstar controler,i already have a few puny solar panels but expect to get more and better ones,my main goal is to have a decent fan to make life aboard more livable and just maybe later on some sort of refrigiration,i haven't installed anything on the boat yet but i've been running a automobile radiator fan off the battery alone to get an idea of what its capibilities are [those are pretty powerful fans]so far its been running for 24 hours without any external power,how many watts of solar will i need?btw this system will be completely separate from the boat's regular power usage

[mitiempo]

That is a pretty serious battery to run a fan.

In weight, AH, and price.

You need to decide what you will run with it and figure out how many AH you will use in 24 hours and that will give you an idea of size and number of panels.

[killarney_sailor]

I have two solar panels mounted on my railings. I replaced the wires with 1" tubing and various Ts and +s that I got at a boat store. The railings are mounted on pieces of aluminum and have white plastic clamps designed to use on this tubing. The panels mount to the top rail and I support them with props made of 1" x 4" cedar with a 45 degree angle at one end and a half circle at the other end to sit on the lower rail. I also have light line to hold them in place.

Had them for 20,000 miles and only one serious problem. We were knocked down and I had pivotted the panels down against the railings before hand. I also tied them down which might have been a mistake. When we were laid over a wall of water came from the other side of the boat, over the cockpit and hit one of the panels. It is was not tied it might have done better but it was smashed outward (the safety glass top was all bent and shattered).

We have two 85 w panels and it handles the refrigeration in tropical conditions without a probem (if it is sunny!)