My First Solar Powered Boat Project

[TomCat58]

When you get to the British Columbia area you will find a lot of lakes like this one. The Columbia River has a few problems such as a big crack in the wanapum dam. They lowered the water so much in places no boat launches are useable. So I decided to explore some of the lakes in the area. I will try and post a little trip report for the lakes I get to visit with Serenity.

Please tell me when you get relocated to British Columbia and we see if we can find a adventure to share together with our solar boats

Tommy

[SolarCanoe]

A few days ago I explored a nice lake high up in the Cascade Mountains. Here are a few pictures and a short video from Lake Kachess.

I am so envious of you having such beautiful lakes and mountain scenery to enjoy. There are some beautiful lakes in our area of Ontario but we don't have the mountains or that wonderful emerald green water. I will just have to make due until we can move out to British Columbia.

[SolarCanoe]

"One Of" Solar Boat for our vacation

Just to recap a little . . . I actually have two solar boat projects in the works.

One is a 14 foot canoe that will be easily broken down and carried to the water. That is why I have chosen to use 4 smaller batteries that I can carry two at a time without breaking my back. The solar panels for this canoe are two folding 100 watt panels. They came with a 20 amp waterproof charge controller.

The other project is a larger freighter canoe that will have a fixed canopy of solar panels similar to TomCat58's solar canoe "Serenity". It will have retractable pontoons as well as retractable motor mounts, and a variable height canopy. This project will have to wait until I move to a house with a larger garage.

We are going to spend the month of September at a cottage on Charleston Lake in south eastern Ontario. I don't want to spend a month beside a lake without a solar boat to enjoy, so I decided to throw together a "One Of" design using some of the materials I have acquired for the other projects.

I decided to use the larger freighter canoe with the smaller strap-on pontoons and a makeshift Bimini type framework to hold the folding solar panels. I will simply stern mount the trolling motor and use the 4 batteries and the extension cable I just made.

I did a trial assembly this afternoon and took some photos:

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I will be adding a platform over the pontoon crossbars that the dog can lay on or we can sit on. The pontoons look like they are a bit high for this canoe but I won't know for sure until we put it in the water.

[SolarCanoe]

Today I finished making the jumper wires for the batteries. As promised hear are some photos of how I made the crimp terminals.

Strip about 1/2 inch of the wire. Cut off a piece of copper tubing and drill a 1/8 inch hole near one end.
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Insert the wire in the end of the tube where the hole is. Use a pair of tile nippers to crimp the tube where the 1/8 inch hole is.
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Flatten the tube up to the 1/2 inch crimp end.
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Use a torch to heat the tube away from the wire and insulation. Feed the solder into the 1/8 inch hole in the tube.
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Drill a hole in the flat end to accommodate the size of screw you are using for the terminals.
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Trim the length of the flattened copper area and snip a slot. This will allow you to make the connection without removing the nut completely.
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Use a file to round off the corners and remove any rough edges.
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That is how I made the crimp terminals. The end of the wire that stays attached all the time does not have a slot cut in it.

[TomCat58]

I'm afraid my solar boat projects have had to take a back seat to getting some much needed renovations and repairs done to the house.

Wow a garage like that would be excellent. I hope all your plans come together for you......

I think my last build worked out pretty good and I have been spending more time on the water and not much time working on it. A few days ago I explored a nice lake high up in the Cascade Mountains. Here are a few pictures and a short video from Lake Kachess. Hope it inspires a few people to push forward with there solar boats lake Kachess 1.JPGLake Kachess 2.JPGLake Kachess 3.JPGLake Kachess 5.JPGLake Kachess 6.JPGLake Kachess 7.JPG

Tommy

https://sites.google.com/site/serenitysolarcanoe/

[SolarCanoe]

Back In The Saddle

I'm afraid my solar boat projects have had to take a back seat to getting some much needed renovations and repairs done to the house. We have decided that it is necessary for us to move to a house with a garage more suitable for my projects. That means a garage something like this one:

Big_Garage.jpg

In addition to us wanting to move out of the city to a larger house, my sister-in-law's husband passed away and her financial situation may mean she will be coming to live with us, so that is another reason for us to want to move to a larger house that will accommodate all of us.

So I have not had time to work on these projects until the last day or so.

I first made an extension cord for the trolling motor so I can move the batteries to the center of the boat. I used a 12 foot set of booster cables that are 6 gauge all copper wire. After removing the clamps and doing some creative cutting, I came up with the following:

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I don't expect the little box to keep the connections dry but I needed a way to keep them insulated from each other. In fact I may find that water will get into the little box and get trapped, so I may need to drill some drain holes.

I also worked on the battery parallel connections. I developed a method of making large crimp-on terminations for the 6 gauge battery jumper wire using copper tubing. I made one set of cables to develop the manufacturing process, but I need to get some shrink tubing and I will then photograph and document the process. For now here are some photos to look at:

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I numbered the batteries so that I always connect them in the same order. When the batteries are not connected together the short cables will get attached back to the same terminal to ensure they don't accidentally get shorted.

[dudevato]

Patti, There's a Yahoo Group I started a while ago called LittleSolarBoats that now has 20 members.

Myself and Tommy (of Serenity Canoes) are the main posters. We'd love another interested party. Check it out.
Then post a pic of your project.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/LittleSolarBoats/conversations/messages

[Patti8176]

All I can say is wow. What cool projects, and now I have build something similar. Thanks for the great ideas.

[Naptown]

Does this imbalance effect charging or using the batteries?

If I purchase the same batteries at the same time and use the same length of wire to connect the batteries to a common bus bar will that minimize the the effects of the imbalance?

It effects both charge and discharge.

You can be extremely careful with wire lengths crimps etc but all it will take is a difference in the internal resistance of the batteries some crud on a connection and the balance will be off.

[SolarCanoe]

It has to do with balancing the charge and discharge between the two batteries. Minor resistance differences between connections and internal resistance in parallel will cause premature battery failure. In series this is not a problem.

Does this imbalance effect charging or using the batteries?

If I purchase the same batteries at the same time and use the same length of wire to connect the batteries to a common bus bar will that minimize the the effects of the imbalance?

[Naptown]

Why do you say it is easier to maintain two 6V batteries in series than two 12V batteries in parallel?

It has to do with balancing the charge and discharge between the two batteries. Minor resistance differences between connections and internal resistance in parallel will cause premature battery failure. In series this is not a problem.

[SolarCanoe]

Given that, the series arrangement will be easier to maintain.

Why do you say it is easier to maintain two 6V batteries in series than two 12V batteries in parallel?

[inetdog]

I looked at 6v batteries but it seemed like it would end up being heavier and more expensive.

There may be some limitations based on the sizes that are made and commonly available, but just based on the chemistry and physics you should be able to get the same amount of energy from two six volt 70AH batteries in series as from two twelve volt 35AH batteries in parallel, and at the same weight.
Given that, the series arrangement will be easier to maintain.

[SolarCanoe]

Multiple smaller batteries to save my back!

I have been considering the LiFePo4 batteries for all the advantages but I already have a $200 MPPT Solar Charge Controller and it does not support the LiFePo4 batteries. It is not programmable other than selecting Flooded, AGM, or Gel batteries.

One of the real attractions for me was the weight. A 100ah AGM weighs about 70lbs. One of the real deterrents is the cost. I can get a 100ah Smart Battery LiFePo4 battery that is a drop in replacement for a lead acid battery but it costs $765 for a 50Ah and $1443 for 100Ah.

The weight of a 100Ah AGM battery is a real concern to me. The smaller 14 ft canoe is to be more portable and therefore we would be removing the battery and car topping the canoe regularly. 70 lbs of battery at my age and condition is just asking for trouble. So I am looking for a solution that would use two or three smaller batteries. I can get three AGM 35 Ah batteries for $300 and they each weigh less than 30 lb.

I looked at 6v batteries but it seemed like it would end up being heavier and more expensive.

That is all I have been up to lately but the snow is melting fast now.

[TomCat58]

Todd

Todd check your private messages.

Tommy