Solar Trickle Charge Setup?

[Ribs77]

Hey all, I'm in a wet slip without access to power this summer. AR195 with just one 12V battery.

So far so good, as I haven't let the boat sit for more than a week without use. But I'm looking at setting up a solar trickle charging situation so I don't have to worry as much.

I already have a NoCo genius trickle charger. What I'm thinking of adding are these two:

Power bank

Amazon.com

30w Solar panel

Amazon.com

So the setup, as I understand it, would be that the solar panel sort of trickle charges the power bank, while the bank supplies power to the trickle charger that's actually trickle charging the boat.

Would this work as I'm expecting? Thanks in advance!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

You do not have a trickle charger, you have a smart charger. Trickle chargers provide a small constant flow of amperage. Your smart charger charges and conditions the battery, then monitors the battery voltage, when the voltage drops to a certain voltage it charges the battery again.

What size is the noco you have?

Your idea of using a Jackery to power the noco is a good idea, several folks have done that.

The solar charger would be good at KEEPING the battery charged, E.G. countering the natural discharge of the battery and the small amount of power the bilge pump takes while sitting there.

I like the overall plan here.

As something to ponder, you could install a single Dakota Lithium start / deep cycle battery. That battery will charge 5 times faster that what I assume is a flooded lead acid battery, it will provide 3 times the amount of storage, and has very little natural discharge rate.

 

[Ribs77]

I have this one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07W6B987F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

"As something to ponder, you could install a single Dakota Lithium start / deep cycle battery. That battery will charge 5 times faster that what I assume is a flooded lead acid battery, it will provide 3 times the amount of storage, and has very little natural discharge rate."

Can you link me to a good one? How tough is the install - is it simply swapping out the existing 12V, or is it adding it in parallel?

Thanks for the info so far!

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Okay thanks for the link. You should get a 10A charger, 2A is very small, it’ll work but it will take 4 ever to charge your battery with that.

DL+ 12v 60Ah Dual Purpose 1000CCA Starter Battery Plus Deep Cycle Performance

Twoin pack, 12V 60Ah multi propose 1000 CCA lithium starting dakota battery plus for marine engine, automotive, deep cycle use. 8x longer 11year lifetime.

dakotalithium.com

That is a direct drop in replacement for your single battery and has exponentially more storage capacity than your group 24 flooded lead acid battery. This will work fine with your boat, as long as you have the single battery set up, no dvsr and second battery. And, should you go this route you definitely need a 10A charger with a lithium profile, the battery actually comes with a charger but it is not IP rated.

I recommend this charger; Blue Smart IP67 Charger Waterproof - Victron Energy This charger will charge that Dakota lithium battery in roughly three hours from a 90% discharge. This charger will also serve as a power supply up to 25A’s but what every load you put on it takes away from the 25A charging. I have three of these and they work great.


I also recommend you put this device in; SmartShunt - Victron Energy I have two of these and they also work fantastic. Without one of these its a guess really how much power is left.