Please excuse any errors of form or protocol. This is my first post. We put one 300w SolarWorld panel atop Fiona Bean. That's all that fits on a 26. After some investigation, we picked a Victron controller. Their charging algorithm is quite sophisticated and avoids certain pitfalls found in a mobile installation. Also, it can be monitored, updated and configured via a phone, pad or laptop app. The trick is to find a panel or panels without incurring several hundred dollars in shipping fees. The internet prices look attractive until you ask about delivery. I bought my panel from a local home solar installer. Not all will sell a one-off panel, so call around. If you have room for two panels, consider putting each on a separate controller. Panel output is greatly affected by any shading/shadow on the cells. Your mast, radar or whatever will have a noticeable effect. If your panels are on separate controllers, shade on one will not affect the output of the other. Steve Pellegrin Fiona Bean 26-178 Anacortes, WA > On Aug 30, 2017, at 12:37 PM, Evan Effa via Sentoa <sentoa@lists.sentoa.org> wrote: > > <mime-attachment> > _______________________________________________ > Sentoa mailing list > Sentoa@lists.sentoa.org > http://lists.sentoa.org/mailman/listinfo/sentoa_lists.sentoa.org

Hi Steve, I have read a number of authors stating that separate controllers should be installed so as to prevent the loss of charging due to partial shading of the panels etc. When I installed my system of two 275 Watt panels in Series to a single Morningstar Tristar TS-MPPT-45 controller, I made provision to be able to connect the panels in Parallel if the shadowing issue were too much of a problem. I have actually not noticed much adverse effect from the mast shading the panels. Outputs in good sun run 20 - 30+ Amps. Swinging at anchor and onset of shading a portion of one or both panels seems to make little real difference to the output. For that reason, I have just left the two panels connected in series. -evan Tugaway NT-37-148 Victoria, BC > On Aug 30, 2017, at 15:35 , Steve Pellegrin <steve@convoglio.com> wrote: > > Please excuse any errors of form or protocol. This is my first post. > > We put one 300w SolarWorld panel atop Fiona Bean. That's all that fits on a 26. After some investigation, we picked a Victron controller. Their charging algorithm is quite sophisticated and avoids certain pitfalls found in a mobile installation. Also, it can be monitored, updated and configured via a phone, pad or laptop app. > > The trick is to find a panel or panels without incurring several hundred dollars in shipping fees. The internet prices look attractive until you ask about delivery. I bought my panel from a local home solar installer. Not all will sell a one-off panel, so call around. > > If you have room for two panels, consider putting each on a separate controller. Panel output is greatly affected by any shading/shadow on the cells. Your mast, radar or whatever will have a noticeable effect. If your panels are on separate controllers, shade on one will not affect the output of the other. > > Steve Pellegrin > Fiona Bean 26-178 > Anacortes, WA > >> On Aug 30, 2017, at 12:37 PM, Evan Effa via Sentoa <sentoa@lists.sentoa.org> wrote: >> >> <mime-attachment> >> _______________________________________________ >> Sentoa mailing list >> Sentoa@lists.sentoa.org >> http://lists.sentoa.org/mailman/listinfo/sentoa_lists.sentoa.org >