Skylark is Going Green

 Yup, you heard right, Skylark will soon be off the grid and just a bit closer to self-sufficiency. I do like the sound of that. By adding a 75w panel, I should be able to produce all the power I need without running the engine or the generator. At this point, I really have very limited power needs not having a refrigerator, but if that changes, I can just an additional panel to make up the difference.

For the panel, I came across a great deal for a brand new Siemens SP75 on Craigslist. The specs are here. As of now, I will probably mount it on the deck until I have an arch or a set of dingy davits to mount on top of.

In addition to the panel itself, you need to have a charge controller to manage the flow of current to the batteries. The controller will make sure you don't overcharge or inadvertently discharge your batteries.  I went with the SunForce Charge Controller. It can handle up to 10Amps of current and up to 150 Watts. They have good a deal at Defender.

I will post pics of course once everything is installed.