I don't mind a bit of controversy, it usually creates interesting conversation, that said.

I don't get the trend towards huge solar arrays combined with huge lithium banks. I'm at anchor atm on a miserable day, instead of worrying about power I run the genset and bring the fridge back to -20, the webasto is heating water for a shower and heating the salon, the dehumidifier is drying it out and the water maker is topping off the tanks and when I shut it all down in an hour everything sorted and the batteries are back over 90% with all the chores done. On a sunny day the small solar 180w array I have keeps topping them off because the power needs are basically zero for the rest of the day until night time.

I can live with the noise for an hour or so a day and I dont have to weigh the arse end of the boat down with huge UGLY arch and panel structure.

If my genset died I would buy another, a northern lights. Yet I see people on YT throw away gesets that still work. I don't get it.

saltiest1 said..
10 boats in a beautiful isolated and quiet anchorage. 7 have generators that each run an hour a day then a few do at night as well…. Don’t know about you but that’s not what I’m sailing for.

10 boats in an anchorage doesn't sound that isolated. It doesn't bother me at all, everyone has needs that must be met in order to keep their floating world operating.

People talk about how many days of silence they can go as if its some sort of achievement. I think that is ridiculous, your not living off the land in some sort of natural nirvana where your one with nature. Your in a boat, its like the starship enterprise, you need to power it and keep all life systems running so you can go where no man has been before. 10 boats in an anchorage is still the marina 😱

So removed the generator and had no solar, increased the house bank and the efficiency of fridge compressors and lights.
Generator working when removed.
HOW MUCH POWER YOU NEED EVERYONE?
No water maker, one fridge freezer and 2 freezers all 12 volt. No lithium (but high end Bosch AGM and alternators for fast charging)
You are not at home.
Never ran house bank to less than 50%.
Carried a petrol 2000w generator if we got stuck in an anchorage more than 4 days and that we used about once a year.
One tank would get us back to 100%
Sure you are sailing boat but still how much power do you actually use.
Better to focus on the other end of the equation.
New compressors are far more efficient than even ones from 5 years ago.
LED all interior lights etc etc.

This will surprise people, galley fridge freezer , in qld in summer about 100amphrs a day, Tasmania in summer about 24amphr
Good insulation is expensive but cheap.

I like solar and lithium batteries because barring rare breakdowns it makes the boat totally independent of the mainland. We can head off any time for an "unlimited" time. Very very rarely ever need to find somewhere to fill up with diesel run the engine for electric power.

Same reason for preferring a metho stove. Don't need to lug an LPG tank around or find a place to refill it. We can pull in anywhere that has a hardware shop and get more metho. After teaching everyone how to light it, which is a scary process, we can have a meat/fish and three veg meal anytime. One 75W solar panel (and a spare) with MPPT regulator 300AH of batteries has never in 5 years got desperately low in power. And that includes warming pies and sausage rolls in our 12V oven.

The old Volvo 2003 did have an alternator on it which was a very noisely and dodgy. Full of corrosion and rust. I thought about replacing it but after finding out the cost of a new one - no way. So because the solar power system was running fine I took it off 3 years ago and never looked back. Got rid of the fan belt that ran it, got rid of a lot of noise and the boat motors noticably faster. So for better or worse Ive dumped generators.

Trek said..
I like solar and lithium batteries because barring rare breakdowns it makes the boat totally independent of the mainland. We can head off any time for an "unlimited" time. Very very rarely ever need to find somewhere to fill up with diesel run the engine for electric power.

Same reason for preferring a metho stove. Don't need to lug an LPG tank around or find a place to refill it. We can pull in anywhere that has a hardware shop and get more metho. After teaching everyone how to light it, which is a scary process, we can have a meat/fish and three veg meal anytime. One 75W solar panel (and a spare) with MPPT regulator 300AH of batteries has never in 5 years got desperately low in power. And that includes warming pies and sausage rolls in our 12V oven.

The old Volvo 2003 did have an alternator on it which was a very noisely and dodgy. Full of corrosion and rust. I thought about replacing it but after finding out the cost of a new one - no way. So because the solar power system was running fine I took it off 3 years ago and never looked back. Got rid of the fan belt that ran it, got rid of a lot of noise and the boat motors noticably faster. So for better or worse Ive dumped generators.

What do you do if you get a week or two of overcast weather.

cammd said..

Trek said..
I like solar and lithium batteries because barring rare breakdowns it makes the boat totally independent of the mainland. We can head off any time for an "unlimited" time. Very very rarely ever need to find somewhere to fill up with diesel run the engine for electric power.

Same reason for preferring a metho stove. Don't need to lug an LPG tank around or find a place to refill it. We can pull in anywhere that has a hardware shop and get more metho. After teaching everyone how to light it, which is a scary process, we can have a meat/fish and three veg meal anytime. One 75W solar panel (and a spare) with MPPT regulator 300AH of batteries has never in 5 years got desperately low in power. And that includes warming pies and sausage rolls in our 12V oven.

The old Volvo 2003 did have an alternator on it which was a very noisely and dodgy. Full of corrosion and rust. I thought about replacing it but after finding out the cost of a new one - no way. So because the solar power system was running fine I took it off 3 years ago and never looked back. Got rid of the fan belt that ran it, got rid of a lot of noise and the boat motors noticably faster. So for better or worse Ive dumped generators.

What do you do if you get a week or two of overcast weather.

As mentioned in my post in 5 years never a problem. Even if its overcast the batteries charge. Thats why a good MPPT regulator is worthwhile. If the batteries are looking low just dont use the oven that day.

On a completely different issue, was having a big issue with the autopilot circuit randomly losing all power and spent hours and dollars looking at the power circuits, but seems the issue was missed software updates by the previous operator.
Problem seems no more.