Marine Power Electronics
Solar charging, corrosion, and thermal design for salt-air environments.
Marine and coastal installations break electronics in ways that sheltered installations do not. Salt aerosol is a sub-micron particulate that no splash rating excludes. UV and thermal cycling degrade conformal coatings on a schedule. Battery chemistries need temperature-compensated charge profiles or they fail early in high-ambient engine bays and lockers.
These notes cover the design decisions behind solar charge controllers and power electronics built for that environment, what the IP ratings actually test, why a sealed enclosure forces a fanless thermal architecture, and how charge profiles and temperature compensation change across FLA, AGM, Gel, and LiFePO₄ banks. Written for marine electricians, marina operators, and engineers specifying power hardware for vessels and dock infrastructure.
Much of this is the build log for the MicroCore Marine Solar Charger, an IP67-sealed 250W MPPT controller in design validation.
What We're Building, IP67 MPPT Solar Charger for Marine and Dock Installations
There is no IP67-sealed, Bluetooth-equipped, display-equipped MPPT solar charge controller under $450 NZD on the NZ market. We're building one. Here's where we are and why.
Fanless by Design: The Thermal Model for a Sealed 250W MPPT Enclosure
You cannot backfit IP67 onto a controller designed for convective cooling. Here's the thermal budget for a sealed fanless 250W MPPT, and the margin call that drives the enclosure geometry.
Salt Air Corrodes Electronics, and IP43 Has No Defence Against It
At 18 months in a marina environment, salt air reaches the PCB of every IP43-rated controller. It's not a defect. It's the rating doing exactly what it says.