Solar Panel

[Nameless Fish]

My new boat has a 110 outlet flush mounted on the outside of the pilot house for the on-board 3 bank battery charger. Can I get a solar panel that would output 110 with the right connector to just plug into that port to charge my batteries while it's sitting at the dock? I'm hoping for a simple self-contained unit I can just plug in and not have to mess with controllers or inverters, but I'm not really familiar with solar.

[tyler.woodard04]

you will need a inverter and controller to get from DC from the solar to a battery then to a inverter to 110AC.  better way may be to get a solar battery charger and eliminate the need to go to AC then back to DC.  you can find ones that output the correct current and voltage to charge the batteries.  

 

something like this. but it would have to go right to the batteries or the DC side of your 110 charger

https://www.grainger.com/product/14N886?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2293:DIIK48:20500801:APZ_1&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21369509976&gclid=CjwKCAjwxfjGBhAUEiwAKWPwDhVJ-BLGycxuNwNSzkNcfTzIVWg0h1fp7l3k--c6Sgl96SUj2U3M5xoCa8kQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Jason Barra]

I mounted a 200 watt solar system on my hardtop 5 years ago, and absolutely love it. There is no need to plug into your 110 outlet. The panel/panels run to the charge controller, and then you'll run your wires directly to your battery/batteries. The charger controller will only charge your batteries if needed. If you want to install an inverter you can, but it's not needed for the charging process, only if you want to plug stuff in.  On my charge controller, it has multiple USB plugs which is great to keep phones charged. Again I absolutely love the system, no worrying about shore power, or taking your batteries in and out of the boat to charge. I've never seen my voltage drop below 12v. 

[Jason Barra]

This is exactly how mine is hooked up 

[Nameless Fish]

On 10/3/2025 at 7:40 AM, Jason Barra said:

I mounted a 200 watt solar system on my hardtop 5 years ago, and absolutely love it. There is no need to plug into your 110 outlet. The panel/panels run to the charge controller, and then you'll run your wires directly to your battery/batteries. The charger controller will only charge your batteries if needed. If you want to install an inverter you can, but it's not needed for the charging process, only if you want to plug stuff in.  On my charge controller, it has multiple USB plugs which is great to keep phones charged. Again I absolutely love the system, no worrying about shore power, or taking your batteries in and out of the boat to charge. I've never seen my voltage drop below 12v. 

Could you send me some more info on your setup? I don't need the inverter but I also have a hardtop and it sounds like your setup is exactly I'm looking to do. 

[Jason Barra]

Here is my exact setup. No inverter needed. I mounted the panels to my hardtop on a rail system, so if I have to take them off, they'll slide right out. Then I ran the panel wires down into my electronics box, and connected them to the charge controller. (I mounted my charge controller in my electronics box.) Then all you have to do is run your wires from the charge controller to your batteries. Super simple.  

[Nameless Fish]

Didn’t you essentially turn your 2 batteries into a single bank by connecting like that with the chargers controller? I’d like to maintain 2 separate banks with my batteries. Is that possible with just one controller?

 

On 10/8/2025 at 2:48 PM, Jason Barra said:

Here is my exact setup. No inverter needed. I mounted the panels to my hardtop on a rail system, so if I have to take them off, they'll slide right out. Then I ran the panel wires down into my electronics box, and connected them to the charge controller. (I mounted my charge controller in my electronics box.) Then all you have to do is run your wires from the charge controller to your batteries. Super simple.  

 

[Jason Barra]

Not 100% sure if you can do that. I would assume you can.(don't assume anything)  If not, you would need 2 different systems.  I have 2 batteries, and that's how it showed to hook them up for a 12v system. Never had a problem, keeps both charged. Why would you want to hook them up separately? What would be your concern?  This is new to me as well.  

[Nameless Fish]

On 10/12/2025 at 7:00 AM, Jason Barra said:

Not 100% sure if you can do that. I would assume you can.(don't assume anything)  If not, you would need 2 different systems.  I have 2 batteries, and that's how it showed to hook them up for a 12v system. Never had a problem, keeps both charged. Why would you want to hook them up separately? What would be your concern?  This is new to me as well.  

It's not that I want to hook them up separately, I just want to keep my two separate battery banks, It just looks to me like connecting them together like that diagram shows would turn everything into a single bank of batteries, which in my head removes the whole point of the starting/house battery situation I have setup currently. I wired all accessories to the house battery bank (which in my setup is two 31 series deep cycle batteries in parallel) and wired the main and kicker to the stater battery bank (high amp 27 series starting battery). This is all new to me too and I may be looking at wrong, I have a tendency to overthink things sometimes.   

[Jason Barra]

It sounds like I basically have the same set up as you.  My outboard is wired to one battery, and everything else to the other. I hooked the panels and the batteries exactly how the diagram shows 5 years ago,  and now I'm going to jinx myself, lol, I've never had a problem.  I run 4 riggers, 3 fish finders, auto pilot, and radio. And I'll troll all day long. On those bright sunny days, the charging unit will show 14 volts, but it will only change the batteries if they need it. For me it's been fantastic. If you come across something in your research, please share. Always willing to learn.