My Boat Has Solar Panels!

In preparation for The Great Loop, I've added 1400 watts of solar panels to my boat. Upstairs has three panels (600 watts) connected to a 60 amp MPPT charge controller which charges three 100 amp batteries. Downstairs also has three panels but one additional battery. So, the 'house' has 400 amp hours. Both of those solar systems have 1500 watt inverters (pure sine) that can take a momentary spike of 3000 watts. The inverters will turn the ample 12 volt electricity in the batteries into 110 volts if I need it. Together that's enough for a coffee maker. A fridge. Lights and chargers. Pretty much everything except the heat and air conditioning. Good thing I have a generator for that ;^) Up front there is one more 200 solar panel that uses a 20 amp charge controller to keep another 100 amp hour battery topped off. That runs some lights inside and the important anchor windlass. These are three separate systems so if one died, the others could keep going. I like that because there are multiple bilge pumps that are now independent of each other. I've heard of too many stories of boats almost sinking because of all the batteries dying at once. I now have nine batteries aboard. If anything, my boat might sink from all the weight I've added! Haha. Well, let's hope not. The next two years should be the perfect testing grounds for these new toys. Follow along and let's see together how it all holds up.

[@RobbsHomemadeLife]

Going barefoot standing on some grass while you are steering your boat up and down the ICW. Life is good.😊

[@Charsept]

Your background in construction really has served you well.

[@wayneblanchard4347]

Holey Smokes. This deserves a virtual standing ovation from all boat lovers.

[@EricUdell]

Three suggestions: First, the batteries should have the negative and positive wires that run to the system connected to opposite corners of the batteries to distribute the load equally among all the batteries. Next, solar panels lose efficiency as they heat up, so ventilation space under the panels is really important. Finally, you can order fan control thermostats on Amazon for about $10 that will turn the fans on at whatever temperature you want. I'm sure your system will work as is. Nice work!

[@jjohnston7837]

I noticed that he hooked up the panels before the battery. I thought that was a no-no..

[@EricUdell]

@@jjohnston7837 Solar controllers generally get the power to operate from the battery, not the panels. So If you've got configuration to do on the controller ( output voltage, absorb time, etc ) that you want done before it starts charging you need to hook the batteries up first, then configure, then hook up the panels. It's possible ( though I haven't heard of it ) in with some controllers that one could damage the controller by hooking them up in the wrong order, but folks do it all the time and typically the controller just doesn't work until the batteries are hooked up. I think controller manufacturers are mostly looking to prevent returns because someone thinks the controller has failed ( display or status LED's not on ) when only the panels are hooked up.

[@chasfoster9895]

One of your best videos of the last 12 years considering no four leggers were involved.

[@ussweeneyd]

The best education is the type you can actually understand; great job Marty.

[@WeekendPirate]

This boat is going to be perfect for the long trip

[@SwitchbackXThunter]

Awesome!!!! Now I have some new viewing material tonight in front of the fireplace!! Can’t wait for your Great Loop series!!

[@barry6484]

Thats great Marty, there are a lot of RV people that go boondocking, living off solar. There are numerous people who have set their RV's up or paid somebody to do it. It's a great feeling not being hooked up and paying for connection.

[@robertchaney7766]

We are still waiting the see the jet yack! Lol very exciting trip you are repairing for! Can't wait to see the adventure!

[@realkilju]

Your boat looks so awesome!

[@chetchhoeun2900]

It's amazing to be part of your journey! You've come a long way Marty keep these coming!

[@dn9463]

Hi Marty, don't forget the bottoms of the solar panels do get hot so periodically check them. don't want a fire started..

[@Thelawncarenut]

Love it Marty! Living your dream.

[@jean-yveslefebvre6446]

Don't forget to bring a furnace it is starting to get cold up north Marty! keep up the good work!

[@TomHeid1]

Quite a solar setup. You have a bunch invested in Batteries. Great job using separate charge controllers so you don't lose everything if one goes out and they do go out. Remember to keep them above 12.4 volts or higher they will last a long time. A guy on KZbin named Will Prowse is pretty sharp about solar.

[@tjhess2]

You are a master thinker. I've enjoyed your ingenuity for many years now. I'm very excited for your trip!

[@AskIveSolar]

Im a sucker for any video about solar! haha. I like to keep my solar simple but I appreciate people who DIY.

[@riverfishing2051]

I would get one of those telescoping ladders from Home Depot or lowes and keep it on the boat in case you need to get to the panels once deployed. - great episode, and dude you have real talent.

[@PvMPredator]

Real cool Marty! Reminds me of the old days when you first got her and did the fix up series!

[@TheStratslasher68]

I can't wait for your adventure Zoff...🍻 from Clearwater

[@crujones4128]

Your set up on the boat is pretty awesome Marty and has come such a long way since you first bought it!

[@SwitchbackXThunter]

Marty PLEASE when you’re underway on the Great Loop, show us some rainy weather videos from inside the helm or cabin. Everyone likes stormy days videos!! I’m as excited for this as you are and I’m not even going!!!! ☺️

[@bmkrause]

Hi from Lantana on the east coast! Your videos are awesome, Marty! Thanks for taking the time to show us your preparations.

[@CrazyChipmunk78]

Absolutely awesome Mr Zoffinger!!

[@CLCIII]

Very nice setup and job installing it. Great job Marty!

[@KK51500]

Marty I live vicariously through you! Definitely excited for this trip! Seems like you are definitely crossing your eyes and dotting your tees! Or however it goes you know what I mean!

[@patricksmith9299]

You've come a long way, Marty. Glad to watch your progress as it happens! Thanks for the updates!

[@dougulrich5381]

Great setup Marty, really looking forward to your Great Loop, the loop is on mine and my wife's list. Trip will be EPIC!!

[@Q-BinTom]

That's how you eat the elephant..... one bite at a time....... Looking good Marty, may God continue to bless all that you do.

[@hasonpoy]

I'm really glad that you hooked up a solar system. But, if you're able, you might want to consider LiFePO4 batteries.

[@CncObsession]

I second that. Battery hookup has great deals. FB marketplace local to your area will have some too.

[@wisconsineaglesfan7925]

Indeed. 400 ah of lead is really only 200 ah before you start damaging the batteries. With LiFePO4 400 ah is really about 400 ah. Big difference. You can get quality 100 ah LiFePO4 on Alibaba for about $300 each, but you have to wait a month or more to get them and there is a shipping fee too but since LiFePO4 is about 1/4 the weight of lead the added expense is not horrible by freight.

[@ckm-mkc]

@@wisconsineaglesfan7925 There are plenty of US suppliers as well - might cost a little more, but quicker shipping. Several channels on YT have good links/reviews - Will Prowse, High Tech Lab & Bus Grease Monkey are good ones to look at re LiFePO4 sources

[@wildmanmo37]

LOOKS LIKE YOUR DOING A FANTASTIC JOB.

[@joshreagan1487]

Thanks for explaining this in such a simple way.

[@ronschwolsky1626]

Nice job Marty! You've got mad skills!!

[@trampster7306]

Very interesting update Marty. I've got a small Solar system to power some lights in the garden, and I've learnt a bit more from you! Keep 'em coming - stay safe & well.

[@russmc3847]

That’s really cool Marty, what’s even better you have built in contingency if one system fails and you have some sort of backup

[@cortlandbennett1174]

Always love watching your videos.

[@ethanblyler573]

Hope you continue to share your adventures with us on KZbin as you complete the loop

[@bradsexton7295]

Awesome job Marty. I love solar panels. I have bought a small kit for my teardrop camper and I am learning about it.

[@motorv8N]

Love your creativity man - great vid!

[@txhypnotist]

"I bless you Marty with Love, Peace & Joy"

[@dianbester1757]

Would be pretty cool if you could do a full boat walkthrough when it’s all ready for your trip

[@larsltj]

Nice setup Marty, but I secound that Lifepo4 would have been a much better choice for batteries. You can get cheap 280ah cells straight from Alibaba for less than $500. Screw four of them together in series and slap on a Daly BMS on top to get a super 12v battery that will run for a decade with more useable energy and a weight just over 20 kilo. Cheers

[@joerockme7485]

MOVING RIGHT ALONG....VERY NICE .

[@Snookchaser007]

Give a me wave when you pass Indian Mound Fish Camp here in Oak Hill Florida we are a bait shop/store/tiki deck/fishing pier and RV campground directly on the ICW. It’s been great to watch your progression subscriber since the poor mans kayak days. Praying your trip is the adventure of a lifetime.

[@NateB1976]

Nice! Great setup you did there. My only advice is buy yourself a small gas powered generator. I follow some RV travel channels on KZbin and they all have solar. You are definitely going to run into situations where you will have ZERO solar for days at a time. If it’s cloudy with rain for a week straight you’ll be glad you have emergency generator even just to run for a bit to charge your batteries.

[@robertweigandt9449]

That is very nice Marty.

[@goubertoutdoors1991]

I so loved this video mr marty I all so enjoyed how u do. Your own diy to. Save money. Keep. Up the awsome work

[@bassingbasics6621]

Marty is the type of KZbinr where you like the video then watch it 😎

[@Slick2462]

Looking good! I can't wait until " WE" set out on gret loop!👌😊

[@michaelgalvez8300]

What are you trying to do MARTY kill us with suspense with the jet kayak LOL!!!

[@stevendomingue]

Thanks love the detailed info.

[@cincijohn77]

You're lucky you didn't blow up your charge controller by installing the solar panels before the batteries were installed. Charge controllers can blow up because they have nowhere to send the voltage without the battery is already being connected.

[@JerryBeatFreak]

I was just about to write the exact same thing. It is worth covering the panels up until everything is installed.

[@bad__syntax]

When the battery voltage reaches a point where the battery charger decides that the battery is full, the charger will cut out, and stop drawing power from the MPPT controller. In other words, the battery charger will present a high impedance to the MPPT controller. The MPPT could react to this by presenting a high impedance to the solar panels, effectively stopping any significant power draw from the solar panels. Same goes when there’s no load (or batteries) connected.

[@KnifeCrazzzzy]

Man this is so cool bro! 🤙🏻

[@justinstinson3082]

Keep up the good work!

[@Tmoss777]

Great job!

[@FishOnChannel]

You're a genius bro wish you the best😀

[@timbokun3845]

Just one quick idea, if you ran cables from one system to the other with cut off‘s you could run energy from one system to the other in the event of an emergency. That way if the helm went down you could flip a breaker and run it off of the house and vice versa. Oh and I grew up on solar. If it’s winter you are gonna want a backup generator

[@davidorr2951]

Great video!

[@scottfitchet9499]

Great video! Would be cool to use the alternator as a backup charger and/or the reverse being able to recharge the engine batteries if they ever need it. Perhaps in a future video.

[@jaquigreenlees]

Marty, you should start now on looking at going with lithium batteries, so when these batteries need replacing you can have made an informed decision. The big drawback to the lead acid / agm /gel batteries is the 50% charge factor. You can only use 50% of the amp hours before you need to recharge the batteries. With lithium you can use all of the charge. The second big benefit of lithium is the much reduced weight. Trying Not To Sink just switched their house batteries to lithium, same amp hours, same voltage, 25% space and 25% weight used by the lithium. You have at least 5 years before you need to get new batteries, plenty of time to really examine the costs and benefits for your own uses. The only place it really doesn't make sense to use lithium, in my opinion, is the starter batteries for the engines. Those just don't really get enough use to make the higher cost of lithium worth while.

[@jacoblopez8482]

👀‘s awesome Marty

[@kend3900]

Excellent info

[@jorgegmendez6241]

Keep them coming brother

[@qaannat]

that's a cool rig

[@TheStratslasher68]

Go Marty Go!...all my buds in Clearwater are

[@TheStratslasher68]

....are rooting for ya. 👍

[@brentbauer8258]

Your fast motion video makes you sound like the squirrel from the Cartoon Movie Hoodwinked

[@macmacca659]

Well done you!

[@funkingfuss9724]

Incredible Job! You always amaze me with your ingenuity and creativity. Could you give us a cost break down for your system? I don't have a boat but see some potential for adapting your ideas into a cross country motor cycle trip.

[@jasonwalton2131]

Hell yeah man great job love you Chanel

[@paulcrosby7419]

I just noticed you finally were able to use a step latter like the one you had made a while ago

[@vxnova1]

How about your alternators on the engine to charge the house batteries too?

[@markroper9269]

Great looking setup!!! I like the way your divided the systems. Good stuff! If you have the batteries fully charged, any idea how long you can run just on those?! Just curious. Be safe.

[@7.62shawn5]

Was always wondering about solar and battery banks. Thank you for explaining. Hope it all works perfect for you and lasts many years. You did a great job hiding everything and making it safe. Can you run a generator with a battery charger to the battery banks if it was stormy or cloudy for many days and charge up the batteries then shut the generator off and be good again for awhile? Just wondering, thanks for showing how solar is done on a big boat.😁👍

[@thomasbendowski2226]

Well done!! I am a true believer in solar on boats. They can really give you energy independence. I'm sure you've thought of it but a good idea to have a backup generator for times when you might have several cloudy days in a row. Unless you're planning to use your alternators for that purpose?

[@colerobinson7778]

Hi Marty every time I see you post I always smile also when are you going to start you loop? Love the vids keep up the good work 👍

[@mas4942]

pretty sure he said at the end of the video the 1st of the year.

[@tjvhigh09]

@@mas4942 ya in one of his other videos I think he said it depends on how hard he drinks on NYE they plan to leave shortly after the 1st 😄

[@colerobinson7778]

@@tjvhigh09 thanks

[@trampster7306]

@@tjvhigh09 I'm fairly certain that Mike said in one of the early planning videos, they are leaving Tampa around January 1st, and marina hopping to Charleston, then leaving Charleston in the spring so as they don't encounter too much cold & bad weather up north. All of these folk saying about leaving during this time of year being bad because of the weather are not bothering to keep up with all of the videos on Marty & Mike's channels.

[@CoryTheMoodyTraveler]

Hell yeah Marty

[@mikeclassing5263]

Looking great , so much talent and skill , I have one question , have you considered a bicycle or e-bike for on land excursions ?

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

You have been busy !

[@projecttrawler]

Awesome man. Not sure 8awg is big enough wire. Just keep an eye on the temp of that wire.. don't wanna see ya catch fire cuz the inverter is pulling a lot of amps through that small of wire. Glad to see your doing the loop though! Congratulations sir

[@mattbobsong680]

Do you ever make any mistakes when doing these projects? You seem like the only guy that doesn’t mess up on stuff like this

[@seansimons7043]

Your inspiring me to do more wiring on my boats! But maybe you just make it look easy! Your a bada$$

[@zmangnay5143]

this is awesome...

[@econewpower]

I wished you had gotten lithium batteries, they give you about 3,000 charge cycles vs. 300 and you get 100% power use vs. 50%. They cost more up front but they are way cheaper on a dollar/amp capacity basis.

[@TheRaystahl]

TY, Sir.

[@waltertx.6020]

I haven't watched in awhile. Man you're well along on your dreams? 🙌

[@waltertx.6020]

You've done a great job! Great skills too 👍

[@SirJJames]

Get a set of lithiumionfosfate (LIFEPO4) batteries instead of those bulky and heavy and dangerous lead acid ones. Youll get the same work done with a 150Ah LIFEPO4 battery as you get out of the 400Ah Lead acid ones, its safer, weighs between 10 and 15 kgs, and will last you at least 4 times longer, making it dirt cheap in the end. I think, 1 cell of 150ah x 12.8v will cost you about $500. Check ouf battleborn batteries. Also you may want to follow a guru of solar on youtube Will Purse. I love how you recycle and reuse everything. 🇲🇹 🇪🇺 Good job ✌️

[@LouisBackover]

Marty ma' man, please check the heat those panels might build up behind when operating. Wouldn't want to set the palms on fire 🔥 might be wrong but seem to remember a thread talking about that on flexible panels, not sure how or if that translates.

[@ckm-mkc]

Those solid panels typically have an aluminum back and he's got them air-gapped, so it should not be much of an issue.

[@hookedupin2005]

Not sure I am a big fan of the thatch...I think I would have gone a more traditional route with the hardtop, but, to each his own, right? I do like the solar setup....Great idea for using three seperate charge controllers... It isolates any problems, should something come up, not to mention cheaper than one of thoe huge controllers.

[@Mike-tu7uw]

😂I know. I bet whoever bought the boat that was the first thing they did

[@FollowTheJohn]

AMAZING

[@havrodwillfish]

thanks marty.

[@sofikuljamadar6395]

Bro your good life

[@tommuhlemanjr.3871]

Hey sir I have a question... When you said all your cockpit electronics were running off the upper solar panels, you meant indirectly right? I’m sure they are running off the batteries under your bridge seat which is powered by those panels. The distinction is that if they are hooked directly to the panels, they will operate very flakey if at all. At night for example, you certainly don’t get 600 watts out of them. When attached to the batteries on either 12 or 24 volt, whichever you use, they get constant, even power at an acceptable voltage and amperage. I’m sure this is a moot point, but I was just curious. Please confirm for me. Thanks and have a great trip. Your boat looks amazing!

[@michaeldixon3445]

You are living the dream. I would be happy to pay the shipping if you wanted to donate your pedal/bass boat with 3 engines to me 😁 just joking of course. Good luck and happy travels

[@dougdemaree1963]

Hi Marty....Where does your trip start......Tampa? And where does it end?

[@GoogleUser-yj1wy]

We all waiting on the jet kayak video bro!!! When u putting it up?

[@keithwolf2317]

What an electric video.......

[@jfalbo]

Hey, aren't your dogs trained to go potty on that artificial turf? :-) might be a long trip?

[@winginitwithjohn8451]

Wow Marty, that is an awesome setup of solar. I'm installing 840w of solar right now on my RV 5th wheel, to be a land pirate. A future upgrade to lithium may be in your future? Contact Battle Born Batteries about an Affiliate or sponsorship. They are huge in the RV industry for full time living, and the same battery would apply to a marine set up.

[@ZRoFishing]

Hey do the dogs ever use the grass up front? Never really said anything about it and if they dig it after the initial install of it years back