The good ship HIPPOKAMPOS has a vast amount of “real estate” on the roof of the pilothouse and it seemed like a perfect spot for an array of solar panels. By having a moderate amount of solar energy feeding the house battery bank it would allow us to shut down the big charger when we left the boat in some far-away marina, rather than relying on 120v shore power to keep them topped up. Of course being on the hook we wouldn’t have to rely on the generator or engine alternator to do the job. We weren’t necessarily interested in being “off grid” and trying to operate independent of the utility companies so we went relatively small with an array of 100 watt panels x 4 for total of 400 watts.

Renogy 100Wx4=400W Solar Panels

Six 6V DC deep cycle House Bank Batteries (12V 690Ah)

40A Renogy Charge Controller

5-day Yield