Electrical System Schematic Diagram:
Power Consumption:
From a quick back of the napkin calculation ... I'll get more specific as details are available
my old lights draw about 1 amp each ... so all 8 lights on all night (10 hours, lets say) would draw 80 amp-hours - leaving one of my batteries almost 100% dead
my new bulbs draw 0.12 amps each .. and 0.18 for the bigger ones.
Leaving them all on will draw 1 amp, so all night will be 10 amp-hours - leaving my battery at 90% charged ;)
the 50 watt solar panel generates a theoretical 4 amps, but since we're pretty far north, let's say it'll generate 2 amps on average.
6 hours of sunlight will generate roughly 12 amp-hours, so that solar panel would replenish my batteries from a full night of 100% light and then some assuming a sunny day.
Other Power Consumers:
- my vhf takes 0.2 amps in standby, so operating that for 12 hours takes 2.4 amp-hours
- my gps takes 0.1 amps, so operating that for 24 hours takes 2.4 amp-hours
- led anchor lights draw about 0.1 amps, so operating that for 12 hours takes 1.2 amp-hours
Closer to real-life usage numbers:
- light usage (4 lights on for 6 hours): 24 amp-hours incandescent, 3.6 amp-hours with leds
- anchor light usage (12 hours): 10 amp-hours with standard bulb, 1.2 amp-hours with leds
- vhf on for 12 hours: 2.4 amp-hours
- gps for 24 hours: 2.4 amp-hours
Total consumption per day:
- with old lights: 38.8 amp-hours
- after the LED conversion: 9.6 amp-hours
my battery bank size: 240amp-hours
battery bank life to 50% with leds: 12 days!
the 12 amp-hours from the solar panel will more than replenish the battery too, i should never have to plug in!
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