Hi. Great replies everyone and thank you for your time. My Trace C35 will handle 18 volts coming in for a 12 volt series but I read somewhere where this is taxing on the controller in that the temperature is greater in this type of application. Regardless, it's what I have to work with, and yes, it will work as such.
Thanks for the tip on the regulator. I haven't gotten the alternator yet, but I will put in voltage regulation of my own configuration then given that scenario.
As for the batteries, underuse is not an issue here but I can remove 6 of these and make these dry cell until I am ready to use these again and the shelf live is infinite. I applied for a patent last year to renew batteries to within 95% of original capacity using chemicals / reagents (my dad's a chemist and I'm an engineer). One of the those is Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid (EDTA). It's a milder calcified sodium but alkaline in nature that jars the sulfated chelates from the cell to cell leads. It's a whole lot more involved than this, but this is part of the process as last summer I was in my backyard chainsawing empty batteries to find this out. My neighbors were calling me the mad scientists until I was fixing their cars and not just with their renewed batteries either! Now, my results are 100% as long as the 6 volt measures over 5.8 and doesn't hold a charge and the 12 volts register over 11.30 (same). I have a large battery bank for severe duty, industrial, solar and other applications. I help some of the local farmers with these and I was a big joke until I tested mine when I pulled up in a few tractors, bobcats and front-end loaders. No joking anymore.
Thanks for the input! Now I need to figure out how to try to put together a power inverter that outputs in excess of 20A per receptacle.
Oh, on the link for John T. Sully and the new electricity I found http://www.rexresearch.com/sullivan/sullivan.htm. This is the third electrical current and like I said, it's not a/c and it's not d/c. It's fascinating.
Charlane