First solar project, Canoe

[TomCat58]

No. I can picture what you have in mind. I don't know of any manufactured panels with 12 inch widths. Most are in the 26" range. That would give you at least one panel to flip out on some type of angle while the other one stayed flat (or at least level with the bottom of the canoe).

With a MPPT controller you would not need as much panel wattage to get your desired charge rate. So maybe going to the MPPT and having one additional panel may meet your needs.

I was just looking at solar cells on ebay and youtube. I see their using "two" 6x6 inch panels to get one volt. So doing the math I need to make my 2 new panels. The panels would be 6x6 cells. 2 cells wide gives me 12 inches wide. 9 cells long gives me 18 cells that measure 9x6 =54 inches long.

That would generate 9 volts. With a size of 54x12 inches. Built one for each side and I come up with 18 volts to match my panel on there now. This would hopefully make the system go from one panel already working in the canoe two 2 panels ! Like I said I am a virgin to solar power so please tell me if my thinking is a problem or can it work ?

As far as not needing another panel with the MPPT controller. I would like as much power as I can get. The canoe does 6 mph hour at full speed on the trolling motor with the battery topped off. That draws 18-20 amps. So if my completed project was to replace the controller with a MPPT and replace the panel on there now with another panel getting lets say 9 amps and plus 2 wing panels that make another 9 amps then it would be a pretty cool canoe

Let me know if I can do this and which panel is best to replace the one on there with. The old panel on there now will be used to power a 12 volt pump in the out door green house in the near future.

18 amps I realize would only be possible with perfect aiming the panels towards the sun. But that's ok because when I am at full throttle with the trolling motor I hit hull speed and 3/4 throttle is much the same speed as full throttle making it around 13-14 amps needed to do the 5-6 mph.

I designed and fine tuned the outriggers so they are slanted from front to back. I can shift my weight to center the canoe and just have the outrigger on both sides a inch out of the water and that reduces drag and increases my speed so there is no room left for improvement except in charging amps and I would like some more shade from the foldout wing panels too.

[SunEagle]

I was just looking at solar cells on ebay and youtube. I see their using "two" 6x6 inch panels to get one volt. So doing the math I need to make my 2 new panels. The panels would be 6x6 cells. 2 cells wide gives me 12 inches wide. 9 cells long gives me 18 cells that measure 9x6 =54 inches long.

That would generate 9 volts. With a size of 54x12 inches. Built one for each side and I come up with 18 volts to match my panel on there now. This would hopefully make the system go from one panel already working in the canoe two 2 panels ! Like I said I am a virgin to solar power so please tell me if my thinking is a problem or can it work ?

As far as not needing another panel with the MPPT controller. I would like as much power as I can get. The canoe does 6 mph hour at full speed on the trolling motor with the battery topped off. That draws 18-20 amps. So if my completed project was to replace the controller with a MPPT and replace the panel on there now with another panel getting lets say 9 amps and plus 2 wing panels that make another 9 amps then it would be a pretty cool canoe

Let me know if I can do this and which panel is best to replace the one on there with. The old panel on there now will be used to power a 12 volt pump in the out door green house in the near future.

18 amps I realize would only be possible with perfect aiming the panels towards the sun. But that's ok because when I am at full throttle with the trolling motor I hit hull speed and 3/4 throttle is much the same speed as full throttle making it around 13-14 amps needed to do the 5-6 mph.

I designed and fine tuned the outriggers so they are slanted from front to back. I can shift my weight to center the canoe and just have the outrigger on both sides a inch out of the water and that reduces drag and increases my speed so there is no room left for improvement except in charging amps and I would like some more shade from the foldout wing panels too.

I can tell you that building your own solar panels will not be worth it in the long run. Those individuals cells on eBay are not grade A and will not produce consistently. Also by the time you solder all the cells together, install required diodes and put them in some type of air & moisture type enclosure you will find you spent a lot of time and effort with a really good chance of them lasting only a few months.

Stay with the manufactured panels and figure out how to mount them. Going the DIY route for panel making results in an extended learning experience as well as more money out of your pocket since they won't last very long.

[FloridaSun]

I can tell you that building your own solar panels will not be worth it in the long run. Those individuals cells on eBay are not grade A and will not produce consistently. Also by the time you solder all the cells together, install required diodes and put them in some type of air & moisture type enclosure you will find you spent a lot of time and effort with a really good chance of them lasting only a few months.

Stay with the manufactured panels and figure out how to mount them. Going the DIY route for panel making results in an extended learning experience as well as more money out of your pocket since they won't last very long.

May be better to buy another panel and make a pitched roof out of two.... but that is putting even more weight above CG. IF I were to attemp anything like that I'd make more substantial outriggers with a panel on each side of canoe, lower.

[TomCat58]

I can tell you that building your own solar panels will not be worth it in the long run. Those individuals cells on eBay are not grade A and will not produce consistently. Also by the time you solder all the cells together, install required diodes and put them in some type of air & moisture type enclosure you will find you spent a lot of time and effort with a really good chance of them lasting only a few months.

Stay with the manufactured panels and figure out how to mount them. Going the DIY route for panel making results in an extended learning experience as well as more money out of your pocket since they won't last very long.

Now that's the kind of advise I came to this forum for ! I can do without wasting my limited funds on something that will be a waste in the end. Thank you SunEagle So I guess the my search now would be finding some panels to fit into my measurements for the wings at around 62x12 inches. The other options is the wings would over lap when your closed on top of the main panel on the boat already.

Weight is my biggest concern. Then the second concern would be aiming when their open at lets say at 45 degrees. If there are a full size panel of 26 wide there going to block my beautiful view of the mountains and bikini's going by on the party pontoon boats. And the farther they stick out they would make the canoe less stable.

I guess I could go forward another panel but that cuts out fly fishing with no place to stand. Hummm ? I like the wing idea right now

Does anyone now where I can find slender panels that would work ???

[thastinger]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UniSolar-FLX-32-Flexible-32-Watt-Solar-Panel-/151073127776?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item232ca8fd60

not much power but about the right size

[TomCat58]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UniSolar-FLX...item232ca8fd60

not much power but about the right size

Yes there a good size and weight for the 2 wings but your right not much power. Now if they had 50-60 watts in each panel this size that would be perfect. The search goes on

[TomCat58]

I am back LOL hahahahaha

I took the canoe apart and started over. I made my roof/sun shade/solar frame larger. Then added another solar panel. A Kyocera 140 watt panel. That brought the 2 panels up to 255 watts and a bit over 15 amps if aimed at the sun. I changed the pontoons from 2 inch to 3 inch to offset the extra weight of the second solar panel.

Well sometimes the only way to know what a vehicle "Canoe" will do is with a good long test drive. So I got dropped off north of Kettle Falls Washington by the Canadian border a few weeks ago. I took my solar canoe down the mighty Columbia River about 100 miles. I have more changes to make from what I have learn on the trip. But for now I hope a few of you enjoy a short video I took on that 100 miles of a 1200 mile long river called Columbia. Oh yeah it took 5 days and 4 nights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlUQoNV0G0

I am shopping for the best MPPT controller and would love to hear peoples advice on this forum..

[SunEagle]

I am back LOL hahahahaha

I took the canoe apart and started over. I made my roof/sun shade/solar frame larger. Then added another solar panel. A Kyocera 140 watt panel. That brought the 2 panels up to 255 watts and a bit over 15 amps if aimed at the sun. I changed the pontoons from 2 inch to 3 inch to offset the extra weight of the second solar panel.

Well sometimes the only way to know what a vehicle "Canoe" will do is with a good long test drive. So I got dropped off north of Kettle Falls Washington by the Canadian border a few weeks ago. I took my solar canoe down the mighty Columbia River about 100 miles. I have more changes to make from what I have learn on the trip. But for now I hope a few of you enjoy a short video I took on that 100 miles of a 1200 mile long river called Columbia. Oh yeah it took 5 days and 4 nights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlUQoNV0G0

I am shopping for the best MPPT controller and would love to hear peoples advice on this forum..

Nice video. Glad you were able to get your system working better. For those of us that may want to build our own solar canoe could you provide the particulars on the panels, charger, battery and loads of you r system. Thanks for the update.

[axis11]

I am back LOL hahahahaha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlUQoNV0G0

.

I like the background music.

I may build my own solar boat in the near future.
I'm envisioning two of those knife-edged boats running side by side.
Light but strong materials joining them and the whole top space filled with
solar panels to serve as a large roof and power source.

[TomCat58]

I am making a few changes right now and will post for everyone how the improvements worked out. I am also putting together a parts list and step by step instructions so anyone can make this solar canoe. I have half a dozen folks wanting to build one without all the hassles and expense I went threw. For those interested... I will post details soon.

[russ]

What do you do when a little gust of wind comes along? That area is well known for more than little gusts too!

Looks like a really bad idea actually.

[SunEagle]

What do you do when a little gust of wind comes along? That area is well known for more than little gusts too!

Looks like a really bad idea actually.

He mentioned going to 3 inch outriggers which will get him some stability. But like you I would be worried with a combination of wind and wave height could make it a little unstable.

[FloridaSun]

He mentioned going to 3 inch outriggers which will get him some stability. But like you I would be worried with a combination of wind and wave height could make it a little unstable.

Outrigger diameter increase is good but seems the beam, width of outrigger extending beside hull, should have been increased too. Nice to have shade and a canvas top always helpful but I still think solar panels installed lower, on the outrigger beams would be much more practical. CG would be lower and simple lightweight 'tear away' tie downs for a canvas top could break if really strong gust came by. Course... panels closer to the waterline might cause some probs too.
That solid solar panel canopy could be scary... not like you could luff the sails if you saw a big gust coming at you. haha, glad the weather was good and tomcat survived that trip in what looks like an overloaded craft. Not sure what the boat traffic is on the upper Columbia, I'm more familiar with the gorge closer to Portland which can get rough. One of my favorite places on earth but closer you get to the Pacific the rougher the water may be and more traffic.
For an MPPT controller I would suggest the morningstar 15amp. Amps would be limited to 15 but overall efficiency greatly increased and morningstar makes a great product.... if you keep it out of the water.

[TomCat58]

What I experienced was down river winds in the morning that actually help my speed. Calm through the afternoon and up river winds in late afternoon. I would get off (to windy) the river and camp on one of many white sandy beaches for the night. This allowed for several hours of sun to top off the batteries. The solar panels are 2 inches higher then the top of my head as I sit in the canoe so lowering them much is not a good option for me right now. Wider width on the out riggers is needed for better stability yes. That is one of the improvements I am making now. The outriggers will then exceed highway width of 8 feet 5 inches so the design will be slide out and in or fold out and in. I am testing both designs on the lake down the road later this week.

I have torn apart this canoe back apart a dozen times and I am not through yet so it is a work in progress. Its better each time but its a boat and even the unsinkable titanic sunk. So yes there are risks. Its not like I have access to a wind tunnel for testing it. Its more like the wright brothers and just keep trying and avoid as much as possible bad things from happening.

So somethings work and others things don't. I learn more testing each time. The thought of a maintenance free, gas free, oil free and silent dependable small boat for a reasonable cost is my goal.

In the end it will have all three options available to me. Just a canoe with paddles. Just a canoe with a trolling motor and deep cycle battery and then the third option will be a self sufficient solar boat.

[TomCat58]

I forgot the fourth option LOL Many online said it won't work and some said it will work and some of them said they do it all the time. So like everthing else I have to think of the risk and benefits and either try it or not. It does ruin my silent boat but I guess in a emergency its a fourth option. Its a Honda 2000 generator connected on the generators 12 volt 8 amp DC output and hooked to the deep cycle battery. yeeee haaa

https://www.youtube.com/edit?ns=1&video_id=0s9xR7UCfqo&o=U

TomCat58