I have a boat with a house bank charged by an onboard programmable charger run from generator or shore power. No problem there. No equipment is victron. I’d like to add solar with a victron solar controller/charger. I’d like the solar charger to only run when no other charging sources are present or to manage in some other way the multiple charging sources. What I’m trying to prevent is the main charger run from the generator (which can output more amps than the solar charger) from being fooled into not turning on or not turning on in the right stage. Do the victron controllers have a programmable setting to achieve this. What is the recommended approach?
@taitelh Hello. Charging sources can be simply paralleled and all will be well. Yes, the Victron solar chargers are programmable and will be able to assist in charging your house bank. You shouldn’t necessarily be concerned about your existing charging system being fooled. The terminal voltage of your house bank will not increase unless the batteries are suitably charged.
I would draw the analogy of several water tanks connected together by a pipe. The battery may be one water tank that has its water level change. The charging sources are other water tanks that are always at the same level. When all of the tanks are the same level your batteries are fully charged…
I have a boat with solar and nothing is more satisfying than seeing your house batteries being charged by the sun. You will not regret it.