My First Solar Powered Boat Project

[dudevato]

nothing to do with 'solar' but some pretty neat canoe footage

saw this on U Tube, shows some 5 well packed up canoes on a 5 nighter in Utah. Real pretty scenery, but it looks like they got little direct sun during the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlMdHPRxfPg

I turned the volume down and put on some Pink Floyd

I just got back from Walmart, having bought another of those larger Minn Kota props. As it's not raining here today I'm going to go out and put them both on and 'pretend' later

[TomCat58]

[QUOTE=dudevato;

""Surely no one here but many 'at the lake' will ask, " why don't you just get a battery"
I've got about $1,800 in panels, I could get a battery for $200, uh? but it wouldn't be fun.
Heck, I could spend $50,000 on a houseboat and not skip a step, but again it wouldn't be fun
It's a shame only you people here can understand that.
Thank God I'm not alone, uh? [/QUOTE]""

Hey its your build so go with it.... My only concern is that when the sun goes down your motor stops running. I have one of these "{Power Packs" and it works great backup power to run the trolling motor if really needed, Charges any device that plugs into a USB, Built in DC to AC inverter, emergency light, jumps cars, has a 12 volt power point plug in, Charges off my solar panels or ac 120. I watched my small tv ac/dc built in DVD for 4 hours of movies to check it out and it worked great. It even has a air pump for those flat tires events !

I now use it to power my campsite while on the river and 200 or so feet in from the canoe. Then plug in back in the next day and charge it back up with my solar panels.

So if I was running on just solar panels like you then this is all I would need for those Murphy's Laws events http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But to each his own on what they need and don't need. In a small lake you could just paddle back to shore too.

TomCat58

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

[dudevato]

kind of related to all that's been posted on this thread

I just bought a replacement blade for my MK 30 trolling motor from Walmart. A bit under $20. The packaging said it would replace the prop on my motor.

Turns out this one is Just short of 10" dia while the one that came with my motor is Just short of 9"

I'll play with these 2 different sizes and see how the motor reacts as to the amps it draws. Heck I might get another of these 10"ers and use the 9's as spares

Surely no one here but many 'at the lake' will ask, " why don't you just get a battery"
I've got about $1,800 in panels, I could get a battery for $200, uh? but it wouldn't be fun.
Heck, I could spend $50,000 on a houseboat and not skip a step, but again it wouldn't be fun
It's a shame only you people here can understand that.
Thank God I'm not alone, uh?

[Mike90250]

I came across some info that said

volts x amps = watts
and
that 746 watts = 1 horsepower

anyone here agree or have anything to say?....

In a perfect world, 750 watts is close. But - - there is wire loss, friction, power factor. My inverter logs my
1/2 hp well pump right at 1,000 watts when it's running. It's a average quality, 240VAC motor.

[TomCat58]

forget what your told on amp draw

here's some amp drawing info I just found. Does it sound about right to everyone?

http://forums.iboats.com/electrical-...yi-530291.html

Lets see if i can make this short and sweet: LOL Never mind its never short and rarely sweet hahahaaha

1. Be careful to believe what people tell you on your trolling motor draws 1 amp for each thrust. example 30 pound thrust consumes 30 amps.
2. All trolling motors are NOT equal. One brand of 30 pound trust and another brand don't consume the same amount of amps.
3. There are now trolling motors that have a computer controller in them. Some don't
4. Ever boat (Canoes) have different hull speeds and drag.

OK so what now ?

Get a good amp meter so you can measure amps used at what speeds. I have a clamp around .1 to 1000 amp .....DC meter..... and a inline .1 to 130 DC amp/watt meter. I also have 5 dollar encapsulated lighted cheapo amp meter that at a glance tell me my solar amps coming in and my motor amps going out so I can balance in the intake with the out take on day or week long trips.

So I have 3 gauges to make sure I know whats going on or I will be sitting on the side of the Columbia River with dead batteries with no way out but to scale a
500 foot cliff..... Not my idea of fun hahahahaaha

If you have the minn kota 30 your not going to like it when I tell you my Minn Kota Max Endura 45 thrust uses less amps but it does (Its got the newer computer control thing a ma jigger in it)

The most amps at full throttle on my minn kota is 22amps and that's putting out 45 pounds of thrust......

OK now how to figure out your system so you can judge miles you can travel with your motor at what speed (I go with 80% is a discharged deep cycle)

OK now to figure out this Peukert’s Law stuff. Heck I am a redneck not a electrical geek so the best I can offer you is a way to test your motor/battery/boat with this spreed sheet a electrical engineer put together. I plan to do just what he did with the same spreed sheet simple by changing 3 numbers and it will do all the rest the work for you.

I just waiting for a little warmer weather to do all the 5 speed test. Click on the link below and read his page and after your done click on the link half way down the first/home page (download) to go to his speed sheet !

There is more good stuff to figure out when you finish this mouthful

Yeee Haaa aint this all kinda fun http://tufox.com/hobie/TrollingPerformance.html

Tomcat

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

[dudevato]

here's some amp drawing info I just found. Does it sound about right to everyone?

http://forums.iboats.com/electrical-electronics-audio-trolling-motors/minn-kota-endura-30-amperage-draw-spec-fyi-530291.html

[dudevato]

'never heard of anyone speaking of Horse Power when talking about trolling motors

I came across some info that said

volts x amps = watts
and
that 746 watts = 1 horsepower

anyone here agree or have anything to say?

Does anyone know of their volt/amp usage during boating?

[dudevato]

Paul, I've got an 'outrigger' I'm putting on. It is a 9' surfboard that will be mounted some 9' off the right of the canoe. I'll bet this thing is Rock Solid Stable.

As a matter of fact I've weighed the panels and seem to recall they are like 25 - 28 lbs each? Got 6 of them and yes, they are a bit high above the canoe. I wanted to be able to sit Straight Up while setting on the decks.

The left side of the canoe to the right side of the outrigger is at 13'. I figure the left side of the panels will increase this measurement some 6"

I was out there today working on it. I'll get some pics posted, 'I'll bet in the next few days. If you look back over all the posts you'll see some descriptive 'numbers' I posted as to panel size / motors / etc.

There are 3 members here that are doing most of the postings and there are pics to look at. Check out TomCat's web site, he's pretty Hard Core as he takes off in his boat for Days at a time and has posted pics of the pretty scenery and wildlife and even his evening meal - Great Pics!

Glad you're interested, have you got some kind of rig like these? Gary in California

[paulcheung]

moved it out into the yard as it's been sunny here lately. I was working on the steering linkage but had to get the outrigger mounting structure rigged up to let me finish the steering linkage. That is now done.

You can see a 10 foot length of pvc pipe running a few inches off the right side of the canoe. You are looking at the front of the canoe in the pic. I need a slip connector and another say 4 feet of pipe glued on.

This is all working out very well and when I run into a problem it doesn't take long to figure something out.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3886[/ATTACH]

Hi, When you put the heavy panel and frame on top, it won't cause the boat to turn over? what do you do the prevent that?

Thanks

[TomCat58]

Actuator steering quick and dirty

Today i went on the hunt for a smaller alloy pulley. I did find 7" and 6" pulleys. Ehen it came time to drill out the center of the 5" pulley the construction of the hub would have made it very difficult if not impossible. Therefore I opted for the 7" pulley. Due to the depth of the V grove the diameter the cable actually runs on is about 6". Therefore the cable will move roughly 9" in either direction to give a rotation of more than 300 degrees.

Actuator update:

I received the actuator today and went with my quick and dirty rough measurements I had to install it and it seems like it will work out pretty good for my needs. As talked about before I wanted more accurate steering for simple corrections, much like steering a vehicle down the freeway. For leaving and approaching a beach or dock I wanted a easy quick disconnect and swivel my set around and do it all manually.

For a cheapo but waterproof actuator unit under $50 I think this will do the trick. When I get the switch and install it, I will go try it out on the water and then fine tune it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o8hHxCytTA

Tommy

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

[dudevato]

John here's a link to a Yahoo Group I'm a member of that seems very good. Steve Spense runs it and posts quite a bit. Maybe a lot of the same info you'd get by asking at this site or maybe not.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/12VDC_Power/conversations/messages

[john]

Hello All!

I am in the early stages of putting together an electric boat. I have searched the net to get some answers to questions I have but I am still not sure I am on the right track. I am an electronics technologist so I do understand the basics of Ohm's Law etc. I finally decided I would have to join a forum and outline my plans and get some feedback on my plans so far.

Background Info: My wife and I purchased a trailer in a seasonal campground and now have access to a very nice lake to go canoing on. We have a little 12 ft canoe that has been in the garage for 15 or more years. While we liked the opportunity to spend some time on the water we found the canoe less stable than we remember and decided to make some sort of outriggers. While researching that I ran across examples of people using trolling motors to power their canoes. Thus began this new project.

My plan is to make a very light weight canopy to keep the sun off of us, so naturally I started looking into solar panels. Long story short, I made a very low offer for 8 50 watt semi-flexible solar panels off of ebay and much to my surprise it was accepted so now I have 400 watts worth of solar panels for my canopy.

I plan to get a Minn Kota Enduro Max 40 trolling motor. It can produce 40 lbs of thrust and given 1 amp per lb thrust could draw as much as 40 amps full out. The current drops off quite quickly and at more moderate speeds will be down around 10 amps or less. This motor employs a maximizer circuit (ie, PWM) speed control that can extend battery life significantly over a conventional speed control on lower speeds. At full speed the currentt draw is the same.

I have found a 40 amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller on ebay, Tracer 4210RN, that is rated at 40 amp maximum battery current and 20 amps maximum load current. This does not seem like it is adequate since the motor can draw up to 40 amps and the max load current is only 20 amps.

I have also found some nice retro round analog amp and volt meters on ebay. I thought I would go for a nostalgic aircraft cockpit look and have an amp meter on the solar panels, battery, and load. The battery meter will have to be a +/- 0-50A meter and the other two can be 0-50. I know I probably don't need 50A range but the next range down is 20 amp which is probably too low. I would also add three voltmeters.

Equipment Summary:

Solar Panels 400 watts (8 x 50 watt).

Minn Kota Enduro Max 40 Trolling Motor (40 lbs thrust, max 40 amps).

Tracer 4210RN 40 Amp MPPT Solar Charge Controller.

Some retro round meters to monitor current draw and voltages.


My Questions:

1. I have already ordered the solar panels. 8 50 watt panels. I decided to go this way so that a panel failure represents less of the total. Vm=18V Im=2.78A (Voc=22.19 Isc=3A). Should I simply connect them all in parallel, or would there be an advantage in connecting them as 4 groups of 2 in series then all the groups in parallel to up the Vm to 36V? If I stick with the 18v parallel arrangement will a regular charge controller be almost as good as a MPPT type?

2. Should I connect the trolling motor to the battery or the load connectors on the charge controller. If the motor is connected to the battery will the panels supply current to the motor once the battery is dead? If the battery is fully charged and the solar panels can supply enough current to drive the motor will the battery remain unused until the solar panel power drops due to a lack of sunlight? Should I try to find a charge controller that can handle a 40 amp load?

3. Give the overkill of solar panels I am thinking I won't need a very large battery, maybe a 75 Amp Hour deep cycle battery would be enough. Assuming a battery rated at 75 AH is really only good for about 40 amp hours and that I would keep the motor current under 20 amps I assume that gives us about two hours to get home if we stay out after dark. Are these reasonable assumptions?

4. I'm sure I have forgotten something so please bring anything else I should consider to my attention.

Thanks in advance for any answers and comments

Todd

Hey man its a good idea. I fish all day with my canoe and my minn kota dura max and one100ah deep cycle. Just get two of the and charge them one at a time with your panels on shore.My motor puts out only 35 lbs of thrust and that is plenty, almost waterskiing!

[dudevato]

Tom, I'm thinking you are asking me (dudevato)about my build?

No batteries, get to where you're going before nightfall I'll have a total of 6 panels with 130 watts each. 3 will feed a 30 lbs thrust MinKota 12 volt motor then the same thing again. 'Didn't touch the project today, but I'll be out there soon.

My one outrigger, a 9' windsurf board will be held in position with 2 10' lengths of 1" thin wall metal conduit tubing, running some 8 or 9' out parallel with the water, some 1 foot above it. I put a 90* bend at the end of each where the tube turns down to connect to the 'board'

This conduit slides into a short length of pipe welded to the panel structure. 'very little slop at this connection, then I'll have some 1/16" cable/turnbuckles running from the panel area out to those 90* bends. This will be preloaded a bit so there will be no slop. I'll get out on the water, have a carpenter's level running side to side across the canoe, then cut those downward runs of conduit till the canoe sets level

This outrigger setup will be easily disassembled and loaded into the canoe, on a trailer for transport.

I'm hoping I can get away without any boat license requirement.

[TomCat58]

3886[/ATTACH]

So whats the plan for solar panels, Charge controller and batteries for this build ?

[TomCat58]

Today i went on the hunt for a smaller alloy pulley. I did find 7" and 6" pulleys. Ehen it came time to drill out the center of the 5" pulley the construction of the hub would have made it very difficult if not impossible. Therefore I opted for the 7" pulley. Due to the depth of the V grove the diameter the cable actually runs on is about 6". Therefore the cable will move roughly 9" in either direction to give a rotation of more than 300 degrees.

That looks like some nice clean work right there. Thanks for sharing