Installing Solar Panels on an Outboard Powered Boat?

Question:

I am adding solar panels to my outboard-powered boat. I plan to put the solar charge controller inside the cabin of the boat in the same space as my current Xantrex XC3012 charger. I will probably have 200 watts of solar panels and a 15 amp solar controller. Is there any reason I can't use a positive bus and parallel the charge current of the Xantrex and the solar charger if I use a large enough wire. The distance is 10 ft one way and the planned wire is 6 gauge. Thanks so much for your help. - Ron

Answer:

All charging circuits (charger, solar, etc…) need to be connected directly to the battery via a dedicated fuse. What makes your wiring situation complicated in your charger is also your inverter, as such the inverter/charger needs its own complete circuit via fuse and switch to the battery bank. No other charging circuit can share this inverter/charger circuit. - Jeff