Connecting Solar to Batteries?

Question:

Hi Jeff. Love your videos and tech notes! Curious if when installing solar cells and controller, can you wire to the 12 volt DC buss, or does it need to be wired all the the way to the batteries? The buss would be much easier as it’s on the fly bridge and the battery bank is well inside the hull of boat. Thanks in advance for your help.  - Wayne.

Answer:

Hi Wayne, Thanks for the feedback, glad PYS content resonates with you.  Connections from solar don’t have to be at the battery, as long as the DC bus bar is always connected to the battery, even if your battery switch to the house battery is turned off. In other words, the solar connections need to be connected to a unswitched distribution.  - Jeff