Adding wind, solar, extra hse batt, inverter & galvanic isolator - good info sources?

[GaryBmth]

Adding wind, solar, extra hse batt, inverter & galvanic isolator - good info sources?

I'm about to increase the available power capacity on our Jeanneau Sun Odyssey whilst decreasing the need to keep running the engine to charge batteries on long voyages. I'm keen to install everything myself so I know where everything connects, how it all works and what to do in the future should anything go wrong or need changing.

What sources of information have people used for similar electrical installation projects? Any good books anyone can recommend that have proved invaluable or any particularly helpful online resources that anyone's used? I've only got the solar panel so far but am leaning towards Rutland for the turbine and have been looking at their HRDi charge controllers which regulate both wind and solar with multiple batteries. It's the how to wire it all up that I'm really after along with any pitfalls to avoid please...

Gary

 

[Storyline]

Did what you plan to do on Storyline (Rutland, controller & more batteries) without much difficulty apart from needing a friend to help hoist the wind genny.
Excellent pictorial book by Alastair Garrod called Electrics Afloat if you need it which goes through the basics but the actual wiring is just simple logic.

 

[David2452]

One of the simplest things you can do is download the manuals of the stuff you are considering in PDF and study them for any mismatches / conflicts with your expectations. Look carefully at the proposed mounting sites and ease of cable runs etc. Make a note of all junction, equipment locations possibly with photographs and do a schematic to document the whole thing which will help you and aany future owner or technician with diagnosis and repair or upgrade / addition. I know its trite but the maxim "Fail to plan is plan to fail" is a truism.

 

[GHA]

Time could be well spent digging deep into some of the battery sites like http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/
If you're away from mains charging for extended periods then it's not just charging that's the goal, but getting the batteries up to near full charge as often as possible for a hopefully long and happiness battery life. Googling some RV sites can be useful on that front as well.
Not so sure about wind, depends where you are. I can count the really good charging days from wind in 8 years on just a few hands.

Otherwise plugging up is not too difficult, make sure the cable is fat enough.

 

[VicS]

Good books include

Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual by Nigel Calder. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boatowners-...id=1407394912&sr=8-5&keywords=boat+electrical

The 12-Volt Bible for Boats by Brotherton, Miner, and Sherman. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-12-Volt-Bible-Boats/dp/0713667036/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_1_0

Practical Boat Owner's Electrics Afloat by AE Garrod. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-B...395404&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=electrics+aflaot

Replacing Your Boat's Electrical System. by Mike Westin http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=455344027&pf_rd_i=468294

Essential Boat Electrics. by Pat Manley http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=455344027&pf_rd_i=468294

The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible. by John C Payne http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Marine-Electrical-Electronics-Bible/dp/0713682671/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_2

 

[GaryBmth]

Many thanks to you all for your excellent advice and recommendations and sorry for the delayed response, just been a bit swamped by work and family commitments recently plus working to get the boat back in the water after CopperTech'ing it and replacing all the through hulls, seackocks and tails with TruDesign ones (won't have to cringe every time I read an article about decaying seacocks breaking off in people's hands now).

* I think documenting what I've got and where everything is and how it's connected before I start is a great idea and then I can add to that according to what I plan to install so that it's all there for future reference and so that I can see the potential effects of any changes I might consider.
* I'll also read through all the books suggested and note anything of interest so that I can refer to it as I go.
* I'll also pull off all the manuals of anything I plan to buy/install to make sure I take into account compatibility and manufacturers' recommendations.
* Battery sites sound like a good resource I hadn't thought of too, thank you

I'll try to post a diagram or two at some point in the future showing before and after, along with what I ended up using, just in case it's useful to anyone searching similar posts. Feel free to private message if anyone wants it and I haven't posted it yet, won't be for quite a while though due to time constraints.