When we were in Townsville in 2021, we made the biggest visible change to Poseidon in 40 years! We had a bimini constructed on our flybridge deck to provide us with a more usable and shaded space. We also had in mind that this could be the base for installing solar panels at some point in the future.
We spent a lot longer on anchor in Iluka this year, waiting for tropical cyclone Gabrielle to pass. To maintain the battery banks and heat the water, we were using the generator 4-5 hours a day. It was during this time we decided to install solar panels.
Originally, we were going to spend a month in Coffs Harbour, but we extended this to six weeks to have a stainless steel frame built for the solar panels to sit on. We also installed our first Lithium battery in the pilot house.
This blog talks about the changes we’ve made to bring power to Poseidon. If you want to look at a specific section, here are some quick links:
Lithium battery in the pilot house
The whole time we’ve been cruising on Poseidon, our windlass, the motor that raises and lowers the anchor, has struggled to perform. This was due to the long distance between the battery bank, towards the aft of the boat, and the windlass at the bow. A lot of power was lost over this distance and while adding thicker electrical cables, or more of them, may have helped, this would be difficult because of tight cable runs through concealed conduit. We had resorted to using the generator when lifting the anchor to help keep up the battery voltages, but we no longer wanted to rely on this approach.
Robert had been thinking about a solution for some time and we knew that friends on Sealeaf, another Ocean Alexander, had put a battery closer to their windlass. We decided that we’d install a dedicated battery in the pilot house, near the DC distribution panel, which allowed an easy connection to the existing windlass cables. A Lithium battery was the ideal choice since it also has a much lower voltage drop than conventional Flooded Lead Acid batteries and can easily be drawn down to a lower State of Charge. Amongst Lithium batteries, the LiFePo chemistry is highly favoured in marine environments because of its safety and stability.
We’ve normally used Victron components for this type of install, however, because this battery has only limited integration to most of the other battery infrastructure, we decided to use Enerdrive products instead. This also meant we weren’t required to install a separate Battery Management System, since the Enerdrive battery is essentially a “drop-in” replacement with its own inbuilt Battery Management System (BMS).
The system comprises the following and you can click on the links to read technical information:
We bought all of this online at MyGenerator. They were very helpful and competitively priced. Everything was delivered quickly and so far, has all performed flawlessly. There were also a few other items (a new Battery 1/2/Both switch, 300 amp fuse, cables, switches etc) that we generally had on hand, or could source locally.
Here are some photos, with short descriptions if you click them.
We also have the ability to monitor details of the battery via an online application and below is the sort of information we can view. While I like to see a healthy battery, I mostly let Robert keep an eye on this.
Conclusion about our new Lithium battery
The result has been outstanding!
But since we now have a very high-powered battery, why waste it? We’ve decided to use it to power all our 12-volt systems (2 fridges, navigation system, pumps, toilets, lights and so on).
By repurposing the existing battery cables from the engine room to the pilothouse, we now use those batteries as the charging source for the Lithium battery. This also has the benefit of allowing us to combine the existing 2 Red (+) cables into 1 Red (+) cable to help reduce the voltage drop from the engine room to pilothouse. There are some “smarts” in the new DC2DC charger that allows it to continuously charge the Lithium battery, from the Flooded Lead Acid batteries, without flattening them.
We’re still playing around with the optimal configuration, but so far, all the batteries are performing well. We rarely see a State of Charge less than 80% on any battery now. Obviously, we would never combine the Lithium and FLA banks in parallel, but we have also kept open the possibility of reverting to using the FLA batteries for the 12 volt system if required in the future.
Solar installation project
The installation of the solar involved working with two companies:
- Wayne, the owner of Stainless Perfection, a local company in Coffs Harbour, who I must say really live up to their name. Wayne provided great advice on the products he’d use, size of the frame, the fact that it would be pre-stressed, and even the detail of how to attach the new stainless-steel conduit to the existing frame.
- Simon, a senior consultant with SAE Group, who operate in south-east Queensland, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. Robert had researched different types of solar panel options and also had a recommendation from a friend on Insequent, another Ocean Alexander. We were going to buy Sunpower Maxeon 3 400w solar panels. Unfortunately, these panes were out of stock in Australia and wouldn’t be arriving until May. However, Simon recommended another sort, REC Alpha Pure-R series 410w, just slightly bigger and we went with them.
High level plan
After meeting with Wayne, this is the high-level plan of what would happen.
- We’d have two stainless steel frames built and they would sit over the top of the bimini we’d made in Townsville.
- These new frames would attach to the radar arch at one end and to the frame of the bimini at the other end.
- Two solar panels would attach to each new frame. Most of this would be built offsite in Stainless Perfection’s factory so it was important he had the solar panel sizes before starting construction.
- We’d have stainless steel conduit that would be used to feed the cables from the flybridge, through the deck to just outside the saloon (at the aft) then down through the deck and into the lazarette.
- These cables would connect to a number of devices (explained later) and then go through into the engine room to the batteries.
Pre work required by us
This section gives you an idea of the tasks we had to complete first.
Moving existing equipment off the radar arch
The new stainless-steel frames would attach to the radar arch on either side of the Garmin Radar mount. As a result, we had to move our weather station, TV, FM, and mobile data aerials as these would be in the way. Robert found a great way to mount the TV aerial and weather station onto the same structure as the Garmin Radar mount and anchor light, and it doesn’t look out of place at all. Then he attached the FM and mobile data aerials to the outside of the radar arch, where we previously had some small flag poles.
All this involved moving a lot of cables in tight spaces. Robert had to move some of the wiring so it would reach the new location of the aerials, and he also took the opportunity to tidy up some of the wiring in the pilot house. For a while, we had wires going everywhere. Then because we’d taken equipment off the radar arch, we had holes to fill and decided it would be a good opportunity to paint the top of the radar arch as well.
Taking the bimini cover off
Before they came to install the stainless-steel frames and solar panels, we had to take large the bimini cover off. It sounds easy to take down, but it’s quite a time-consuming process as it’s lashed at three sides and on the fourth has to be fed through sail track, and some very thick velcro down the centre pole.
I decided it would also be a good opportunity to clean it, especially as there were a lot of birds in Coffs Harbour using it as their toilet!
Removing clips on the aft wall of the saloon
One section of new conduit, used to feed the wiring from the solar panels into the lazarette, would attach to the aft wall outside the saloon on the starboard side. There was a boat hook attached here, and a number of old, disused clips that were there when we bought the boat. After removing everything in the vicinity of where the new conduit would go, we decided we’d remove all the other disused clips on the back wall, fill all the holes, then paint the aft wall of the saloon. Yes, we seem to have a lot of scope creep in our boat projects!
We put two undercoats on the back section, which looked great. But when we started painting the top coat unfortunately the roller, despite being the one recommended, disintegrated quickly. We tried brushing the paint on and we both agreed it looked terrible. So, we then spent a lot of time sanding the entire wall, repainted with a different roller and this was successful. (I felt so disappointed we didn’t use this roller initially.) However, we could still see some of the damage from the first unsuccessful top coat so we’re in the process of sanding it more, and will then recoat a couple more times. We’ve also used Sikaflex to fill the seams between the cabin roof and the side walls, and around the outside doors. It’s coming along really well. I may post photos later!
Installation of the stainless-steel frames and solar panels
To ensure correct sizing and position of the frames, Wayne came by to measure again before finishing them, then brought the frames to the boat to determine final tweaks he needed to make. He also measured up to do the conduit and work out a solution for “hiding” the wiring where it fed through the flybridge deck, alongside the hatch opening and to the aft wall of the saloon down into the lazarette.
There were two old stainless “plugs” near where the conduit would be situated, that seemed to be covering holes in the deck. Robert was able to remove one of them, and confirmed it opened directly into the lazarette. This meant we could use this without needed to drill through the deck.
It was interesting to see the process of the frames and panels coming together, and I’m sure you’ll agree from the photos, it looks great.
Post work required by us
This section gives you an idea of the tasks we had to complete after the installation.
Building a frame for the new equipment
Before capturing the solar power, Robert had to build a frame and attach a panel that would be used to mount the new equipment required to be installed in the lazarette.
This equipment includes the following and you can click on the links to read technical information:
- A fuse box. Because you can’t “turn off” the solar charging, most people wait until night to make any changes, it’s critical to be able to isolate the charge so the wiring isn’t live.
- Two Victron SmartSolar 150/60 MPPT controllers,. These ensure that the loads receive the maximum current to be used and quickly charge the batteries. Our forward two solar panels are joined (in parallel) and connected to one MPPT controller and the rear two panels (also in parallel) are on a separate circuit connecting to the second MPPT controller. This was mainly done to assist with shading issues (especially from the radar on the forward panels) but also allowed us to size the MPPT controllers based on the combined output of two panels so that we could reduce the number of cables running through the conduit.
- A Cerbo GX device. This device lets you monitor the battery state of charge, power consumption, power being harvested from solar panels (PV Charger, where PV is Photo Voltaic), generator, and mains. This also has a graphical, touchscreen monitor, although we have remote capability via an online application to also monitor this from an iPad and phone. From the Cerbo GX there are also new cable connections between it and:
- Our existing 2 Victron Multiplus 12/3000/16 Inverter/Chargers (that we have configured to run in parallel).
- The 2 new MPPT controllers.
- A new Victron SmartShunt 500/50. This monitors the load/charge on the battery bank.
Putting the large bimini cover back up
When we put it back, we had to slide it over the previously built frame and under the newly built frame holding the solar panels. Once again, this took quite a lot of time.
I will also need to modify this cover to cater for where the new frame is welded to the existing one. But we’re also considering redesigning the aft section of the bimini cover so I need to buy some more Sunbrella fabric before I make any changes.
Finish painting the aft wall of the saloon
Unfortunately we didn’t get this finished before leaving Coffs Harbour, so while we’re anchored at Port Macquarie we’re taking the opportunity of the dry days to progress this work. I’m sure it’ll look great when it’s finished.
Conclusion about our new solar
Every day as the sun rises, it’s exciting to see how much power we’re putting into the batteries. I find myself regularly checking the monitor to see the charge being harvested. It’s still early days, but from the 4x 410w panels we are consistently seeing between 6Kw to 8Kw harvested per day. I think together with our new lithium battery in the pilot house, these changes have been a resounding success and we have commented “why didn’t we do this sooner”!
Robert has also cleverly programmed the inverter, using the Victron Assistant functions, so that when our batteries reach a threshold (e.g. 95%) the water will start to heat. Then if the batteries go below a threshold (e.g. 90%) the water will stop heating. There are also some other conditions, but I think this is getting into too much detail!
On a very sunny day we proved this to work, and it was great. But, if our batteries don’t reach the threshold, then sometimes we need to run the generator to heat the water if we want a hot shower!
What’s next for Poseidon?
If we consider the 10 years we’ve owned Poseidon, we’ve made a lot of changes, but the most noticeable from the outside have been the new bimini on the flybridge and the solar panels. This is how Poseidon has taken shape.
The only limit we have now is how much water we have available, so the next project that we’ll do ourselves is to start capturing rainwater that flows off the pilot house roof and putting it into our forward water tank. And Robert has started this as I write my blog!
Where to next?
We’re currently enjoying cruising around Port Macquarie, waiting for wave and swell conditions to improve before we head south to Camden Haven.
5 Responses
A big job for all concerned, but the benefits will be great. Well done!
I’m so impressed with all your research, attention to detail, problem-solving etc. on your journey. Poseidon might not look much different, but you’ve done a lot of improvements.
Hi Pam, great to see you and Robert embracing technology and still living the dream, smooth sailing! Chat soon Pam W
Sounds like some serious tech! Well done. Stay safe, x P and D
A great read again. Well done. Ps. I check my solar input way too often as well 😬😁