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Power Management
(page 2)
The power output of the generator is strictly of the 110-volt variety.
In order to charge our batteries via the generator, we use the
110-volt power to run a large battery charger capable of producing 110
amp-hours of charge. The
generator has excess capacity even with the full output of the charger.
We can use the generator to charge batteries, power the water
heater, air conditioning/heat, or any other 110-volt devices. However, with the amount of charging we get from our
solar and wind charging sources, the generator sees very little run-time.
More often than not, it is used to heat water for showers when its
either too cold to use our solar shower or if I’ve just forgotten to lay
it out to heat the water.
What about this
thing called an inverter I mentioned earlier?
The inverter is a device that converts the 12-volt power from our
batteries into the 110-volt power needed by our microwave, TV, and
outlets. While our
inverter is large enough to power our air conditioner, water heater, or
battery charger, we never use it for that purpose.
The large power requirements for those devices would quickly
deplete our batteries. Those
devices are reserved for when the generator is running or we’re plugged
into shore-power at a marina.
What does all this
mean in terms of how we manage our daily power requirements?
It means that we’ve been able to produce an average of 85-90% of
our power requirements by harnessing energy from the wind and sun.
We produce much of our 110-volt power through the inverter and
replace the amp-hours used with the same wind and solar power.
If it weren’t for the occasional hot water for showers, we’d
only run the generator for an hour once a week to top off the batteries.
In practice we run it even less, because we move around often
enough that our engine’s alternator tops up the batteries when we are
forced to motor due to lack of wind or confined channels where sailing
wouldn’t be safe. The
engine also produces hot water as a side benefit through a heat exchanger
while it’s running, reducing the need to run our generator even more.
However, there are days when it is so oppressively hot or
bone-chilling cold that having the generator to run the air conditioning
or heat is a true blessing.
So, there you have it. More
than you ever wanted to know about power management aboard
‘Charbonneau’. We’ve
had a few people ask how we balance our power usage vs. the required
charging. This article is for
them. Hopefully, it answered
any questions you may have had about the topic as well. If you have any specific questions about how we’ve
designed ‘Charbonneau’s’ electrical system, please drop us an email.
The specific equipment we chose for Charbonneau can all be found
under “The Boat” section of our website.
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