We installed Odyssey style batteries, a high output (210 amp) alternator in parallel with the stock 80 amp, 390 watts of solar. With that we could run autopilot, CP, sailing instruments, computers, water maker and fridge and still have a couple amps left over for battery charging. In practice, we even ran the coffee maker in the morning and found the batteries fully charged by early afternoon. The Odyssey batteries (thin plate pure lead AGM type) can accept a up to about 200 amps (probably more but we have regulator going easy on the alternators. If we get down in the 50% range (never really) we can bulk charge fast with main engine. Acceptance does taper a lot when in the 80%+ charge range. This makes for quiet setup, trouble free for the last few years. We do have glass panels on the deck forward of the windshield.

I've repeated this spiel on this board before. The Odyssey style batteries are not cheap but also way less than any lithium style battery. The key to the Odyssey batteries, according to Calder, is that they must be charged aggressively. He did a lot of testing to arrive at a charging profile to put into the shore charger, Balmar regulator, and solar panel regulator. Since the various chargers don't know about the activity of the others, it still is not perfect.

All of this would not work so well if I hadn't invested a lot in LED lights and especially some nasty days adding insulation to the fridge. That effort probably halved the refrigeration power demand.

Anyway, this constellation of changes has worked well for us but is not the only way to achieve power nirvana.