I am looking to add soar and I see there are folks here who are way more informed than I am. we spend so much time on the hook but here in Florida you cant sleep without ac. So we run our generator to have ac and then at the same time charge our batteries. 8 x 6v 220 amh. Our 12kw Northern Lights burns about .6 gal per hour and after spending 6 weeks on the hook for about the 5th year in a row and after spending about $1500 on diesel for the 6 weeks, just to run my generator, solar seems a must do alternative. I have a 3000w inverter and I run my fridges and a few outlets during the day.
I have to go with flex panels as i have a Bimini top 9x14, so its big. I am looking at 4x200 watt panels in parallel. it looks like I should be able to charge up my batteries during the day and then run the generator for about 2-3 hours in the evening for stove-top, microwave etc.. That would ad extra charge into the batteries.
I am thinking of adding a 2nd 12v ac in the master so we use that one when on the hook. the other gets used on the dock etc.
I am looking at a 75amp Victron charge controller. My question is does this have to have a shut off switch when running the generator so there is no back feeding into the solar from the generator or does it know this and shut of current automatically.
Any thoughts, comments and advice would be great. Thank you