Solar Magic

20/05/2026

John, one of the finest cooks on the canal, has been living with an ice box for years. About time to get a fridge going to enhance his cuisine. He got himself a couple of 460Ah Fogstars and asked me to make them work for him.
Him not being a fan of hybrid systems, we installed a 50A DC/DC charger for the engine charging, for solar charging a couple of 460W solar panels with the potential for two more due to a massive 100A solar charge controller, and for shoreline charging, a 3kw inverter charger. That should retire the ice box for good.
He wants to have the panels mounted on shallow boxes at a later stage, so they rest on picturesque posts for the time being. My advice, do not wait too long with the box building as one bad gust at the wrong angle can send the panels flying.

09/05/2026

Introducing Florence, the newest member of the team, and by far the prettiest.
At 55 years of age she is still going strong, and will be with us for a long time.
She will be in charge of solar panel transport and bringing me to site in fould weather.

01/05/2026

Gabs is in the progress of building her boat from scratch, having asked me to install the electrics. With very little space available, every possible spot had to be utilised for installing switchgear.
We decided to run her system on 24 volt, thus halving the current and significantly reducing wiring crossections as compared to a 12 volt system. With a 1.8kW solar array and a 280Ah Fogstar LiFePO4 battery she should have no problems running her washing machine and dishwasher for most of the year. Should the need arise, there is enough space for another battery above the first, although I doubt that it is going to be necessary.

27/03/2026

...and to remind you what I am doing, here is one I did earlier last year:
Ken is in the progress of restoring his boat from scratch since early in the year. Needless to say, he is doing a fine job, especially since this is his first boat. When I came into the picture, floor and walls were already up, he left the original ceiling. Since the boat has got no gunnels, the best way of running the wiring was through trunking. Which is not as bad as it sounds. For one, the cables are still fully accessible, in case something has to be replaced or added. We did manage to blend the trunking nicely into the walls plus hiding it under shelves.
There was only space for three 450W solar panels, which had to be mounted towards the starboard side, in order to allow access to the roof, as there are no gunnels to walk along.
A 60A Epever charge controller will cut off the spikes in summer, but guarantees a steady supply during the dark months. A 3kW Victron Inverter/charger in combination with a 628 Ah Fogstar pro LiFePO battery allows him to run his washing machine, which draws 2.4 kW during the hearing cycle.
If you are thinking of running a washing machine or dishwasher off you batteries, do make sure to check the maximum draw or the appliance before, as some might well have a max draw that exceeds the capacity of your inverter. Ken got away with it as this one is just at the limit.
He is considering having a heat dump fitted to his immersion heater, once he has finished building the boat. But there is no rush for now, as this will only become relevant towards summer.

27/03/2026

24/12/2025

It is the time of year again. Solar Magic is closing shop to recharge his batteries down South. I will be back Mid March, full of energy and keen to help you catch the sun. While away I will be available for remote advise, so do not hesitate to contact me anytime. Meanwhile, keep warm and stay well...

09/12/2025

Here is one I did earlier this year: Rob has been sitting in the dark on his widebeam for a little while. An aged solar array of 1000W with one panel cracked and a knackered lead acid battery bank, autumn looming, something needed doing. With the endless space on the roof of a widebeam and the ridiculous low cost of solar panels, we saved money on fancy efficiency increasing tilting brackets, which was invested in more solar panels. The old panels were replaced by a 3kW array fixed flat on the boat. For storage we installed a 628Ah LiFePO4 battery. Despite my pleading Rob opted for a DC/DC charger for engine charging, as he had concerns for his insurance company giving him grief over a hybrid system. As the original electric installation was as good as one could wish for, it was just a case of replacing the solar chargers for larger models, adjusting the wiring, and adding a 70A Sterling DC/DC charger. However, Rob had to this day no need for engine charging...

16/09/2025

Anj bought this beautiful 64' boat with steel hull and wooden superstructure not long ago. His energy needs are not great; fridge, lights and the usual charging. Bearing in mind that days are getting shorter, I suggested a 2-panel (900 Watt) array. In combination with decent batteries this should see him through most of winter.
Frequent mushrooms would not allow fixing the panels flat on the roof, and the wooden roof would not allow the usual tilting brackets to be fixed without bolting them with some serious washers securing them from the inside, which Anj was not keen on.
This only left the railings, upon whose I fixed some waterproofed decking boards, and then fixing the panels with brackets. This sounds much worse than it actually looks. Anj was happy, the dark days with warm beer are over for good.

25/07/2025

My job never gets boring. Every boat has got an individual setup, their owners have different needs and ways they want to see things implemented, and sometimes it is a challenge to combine all these.
Joana bought her new boat recently, it had a solar panel sitting loose on the roof, a dodgy inverter off ebay and a badly wired up leisure battery bank.
She had high ambitions, increase her solar yield, being able to operate the washing machine on her boat and using excess solar power to heat water in her calorifier... and had precious little space to accomodate the necessary hardware.
We decided on a 660Ah Li/LA hybrid battery bank, a 3kW Victron Multiplus, trebling her solar array and using the second AC outlet of her Victron as a soler dump for water heating.
With so little space available, I had to squeeze the big inverter/charger and both charge controllers into a little cupboard, too small for efficient air circulation to cool down the machines in full swing. To aid the circulation, I installed two little fans from a defunct old Sterling charger that I had ripped out earlier. Rigged to a temperature controlled relay, they should cool the machinery down when needed. We tested the system by doing a hot wash with the washing machine to work the inverter hard. To make things worse, we did this on one of the hottest days at nealy 30 degrees. I have attached a little video of this, in case you like this sort of thing.

05/06/2025

Ben and his girlfriend have been stuck with a blown head gasket for a few months, with a genset as the only means of generating electricity. The previous owner had the boat at a private mooring, so no need for him to install solar. A massive isolation transformer is a clear indicator.
As they both work from home they have decided to go solar. As panels go cheaply these days, they chose a 1.8kW solar array. And as the rest of the hardware was all blue, the charge controller was chosen Victon, to blend in with the rest. At 100A charging, the array is slightly overpaneled, but this should see them hopefully through the winter. I guess, the generator is to be sent into retirement...

10/05/2025

Nat had recently bought his boat up north. Electrics were antiquated with very little working.
He needed a basic 900W solar setup and his electrics brought up to scratch. There was a 20A battery charger that came with the boat, and Nat already had a 2kW inverter. So all I had to do, was finding a space for it all, as well as the solar charger, switchgear, bus bars, fuses and AC distribution in a rather small cupboard.
No space to hide the cables behind a panel, so it all looks like a spagetti junction. The advantage of this is, that all cables are accessible, possible faults are quickly detected.