Houseboat Power System

Hi folks, I have a project that I am looking to get some help with.
I had looked around at some of the threads on this site and started my questions there, but as I am not getting much help, I thought I best start a new thread to see if i can drum up some more help.

this is the link to the original post:
Houseboat Power System (original post)

there is a nifty (well I think it's nifty!) diagram of what I want to achieve there, and some more info on the setup I am currently using etc.

Any suggestion is a good suggestion! so feel free.
thanks in advance for your help.

Zach Fleming

Hey Zach. It's pretty straight forward project and you can get the stuff from Jaycar but solar panels are not cheap, nor are deep discharge batteries and decent invertors.

I reckon you should first decide exactly what you want to power and for how long, then work it from there. There are heaps of ways to do it and we get a lot of sun here

I already have the solar panels and batteries, i have looked through jaycar and dick smith catalogues, but i couldnt find anything suitable.

I know i can just use a DPST relay (to switch the active and neutral, NO to "AC Mains", NC to "AC Gen" and C to my charger circuit, please correct me if I'm wrong) to switch the "AC Mains" to "AC Gen" but I am puzzled on the circuit to start the gen at the preset voltage.

I'd love to be able to setup this so I can have variable voltage to run the generator, I would like to be able to put this system into other boats as well.

I also have another project that you fine folks might be able to help me with, but i think i might need to put it in a new thread, anyone here know a way to get a 240vac->2195vdc laser power supply?

You should be able to do that with a few contactors. I did not examine the post properly at first. I had a similar setup on my house. The generator would only kick in when the mains failed, and only if required. But if you have solar you can have three possible sources. Again, you need to have a clear idea of load (peak and idle) and run time.

Idealy you could use a PIC micro or similar to monitor and control the whole system. Remember to use break-before-make !