It’s gone..

[Knotty]

Well it will be. My 6.5 kw generator is locked up, now I know why the previous owner never used it. It’s coming out as one unit or in pieces…. I’m going solar, much less weight and no gas needed.

[BlueSkye]

That's a lot of power. You must have a couple of A/C units on the boat?

[Knotty]

I’ve found only one and it trips the breaker as soon as it’s turned on, haven’t had time to check into it, so a window unit works for now, it’s on shore power now.

[jralbert]

Describe, please, your solar plans

[Knotty]

Describe, please, your solar plans

I plan on going with a 115 volt mini split ac/heat unit, at least 400 amh battery system, set in the space where the onboard ac sits, with solar panels needed on the future hard top over the flybridge. Much more space between the two 454 big blocks and less weight will be a big plus.

[Knotty]

The price of gas will keep going up, OPEC will be cutting back another one million barrels a day…. but, we can produce that and more here in the U.S.

[BlueSkye]

"less weight will be a big plus."

There might be some concern about adding that weight back on with a flybridge hardtop. Raising the center of gravity gives less stability. Stability is a big deal if you're out in waves, especially if you stop the engines and go sideways to the waves. The boat will swing back and forth a lot. My first mate starts to scream when this happens in about two footers.

I also took out a big generator that was placed between the engines. I wanted to be able to stand in the engine compartment between the engines, and there was no A/C. I eventually put in a marine A/C (water cooled). It's rated 16 kbtu but works like an 18 kbtu with cooling water below 80 deg F. This was because my girlfriend had to evacuate on the first day the weather hit 90 deg. The sun made the cabin 100 deg. With the A/C running the cabin can be kept 10 deg below the outside temp and I can have it all blast right at the first mate's seat if necessary. Cutting the humidity is major.

I'm using a little Honda 3000 watt generator. The A/C is on a 25 amp circuit and once running draws 13 amps. This works fine with no other significant loads allowed while the A/C is running. Refrigerator yes, water heater no.

I have a 400 Amp-hr house battery bank. This will keep things going all day easily when away from the dock. I am almost always away from the dock. 400 means I can use 200. I run the gen a couple hours a day to charge the battery bank. This is when the hot water heater (13 amps) gets turned on, once a day. My inverter is rated 1700 watts. I can't run a Keurig off of it, which draws something like 10 amps 120v (roughly 100 amps 12v).

My math suggests you will not be happy with a 400 amp-hr battery bank and a solar panel running A/C on a much bigger boat than mine. I know some of the big sailboat cruisers cover their large deck with solar and can run an A/C though. They have huge Lithium ion battery banks as well. For that you'll want a really good lifeboat too. I wouldn't be too quick to scrap that generator without finding out if you can make it run. Just my take.

I'll be very interested to hear how you manage.

[tundrarules]

I will second all that BlueSkye said. I would run the numbers again on your KW per hour running AC. I would imagine the cost of a solar system big enough to run AC in Florida will make your eyes pop out. Please let us know what cost you come up with so we will know how eye popping it is.
Also adding weight to the top is a big issue with CG. Our boats already roll way too much because they are light with high CG. I'm on a lake and have had some very scary roll situations, I couldn't image these boats in an ocean environment.

[Knotty]

The hard top is not gone be a few hundred pounds and the panels are not very heavy either. Everything will not be on at the same time and for starters, 400 amp is an estimated starting point. My friend has a 115v mini split with a max of 15 amps, after he insulated his boat, which mine surely needs, I was cold sitting there in 69 degree temp..

[Knotty]

I will not be sailing by Cape Horn or to England either.