Not a bad plan. It just takes a LOT of patience. :-)

JerryS wrote:
Well Eddy, so far none of the replies have been of much encouragement ......
for me either. I was contemplating utilizing a 12 volt marine battery in
my ..... canoe so that when those long stretches of wind in my face
flat-water occurred, I could just get a boost.
Then when the battery got low I figured to use a solar charger to reload the
battery. Looks like a bad plan.
Jerry




--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Thanks to all you guys..

The battery is an 100 Ah marine deep cycle battery and We are using
the motors for fishing purposes. The boats are sometimes for 2 or 3
hours on one location in full sun in the south of Spain. Even if the
battery would be charged for a 1/4th of the full capacity that would
be great.

Eddy


Glenn Ashmore wrote in message news:oDSub.9601$0K4.7152@lakeread04...
Not a bad plan. It just takes a LOT of patience. :-)

JerryS wrote:
Well Eddy, so far none of the replies have been of much encouragement ......
for me either. I was contemplating utilizing a 12 volt marine battery in
my ..... canoe so that when those long stretches of wind in my face
flat-water occurred, I could just get a boost.
Then when the battery got low I figured to use a solar charger to reload the
battery. Looks like a bad plan.
Jerry

That may be enough patience but how much real estate do you want to take up?

At least we have a goal now. A 110 watt panels will probably give you
are reliable 6 or 7 amps per hour so a pair will give you about 1/4
charge in 2 hours of full sun but 110 watt panels are about 22" x 50"
(56cm x 128cm) and about $500 each.

The only sucessful solar powered boat I have seen was a 19' Elco fantail
launch with 6 4D batteies. The awning was covered in 600 watts of
panels and it could cruise at 4 knots for about 5 hours a day without
pluging in the charger if it stayed sunny. Half that with any cloud cover.

Edwin Antonius van Gorp wrote:
Thanks to all you guys..

The battery is an 100 Ah marine deep cycle battery and We are using
the motors for fishing purposes. The boats are sometimes for 2 or 3
hours on one location in full sun in the south of Spain. Even if the
battery would be charged for a 1/4th of the full capacity that would
be great.

Eddy


Glenn Ashmore wrote in message news:oDSub.9601$0K4.7152@lakeread04...

Not a bad plan. It just takes a LOT of patience. :-)

JerryS wrote:

Well Eddy, so far none of the replies have been of much encouragement ......
for me either. I was contemplating utilizing a 12 volt marine battery in
my ..... canoe so that when those long stretches of wind in my face
flat-water occurred, I could just get a boost.
Then when the battery got low I figured to use a solar charger to reload the
battery. Looks like a bad plan.
Jerry




--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

Hmmm...lessee.

Requirement:
1/4 capacity of 100 Ah battery in 3 hours,
is 25 Amp hrs in 3 hrs
is 8 amps at 14 volts

Supply:
a 1 amp 12 volt solar cell might cost $40 if you were lucky.
So 8 amps might cost $3200 if you were very lucky.

(Unsure of the current efficiencies.... let's say solar = 3%
efficient)

Solar constant say 700 watts /m^2
at 3% efficiency for say 100 watts
= 100/(700 X 3/100) = 5 sq meters

Find a surface 17 feet long and 3 feet wide and cover it with
$3200 of solar cells

(My figures are probably rather optimistic....)

Brian




On 20 Nov 2003 02:09:08 -0800, (Edwin Antonius
van Gorp) wrote:

Thanks to all you guys..

The battery is an 100 Ah marine deep cycle battery and We are using
the motors for fishing purposes. The boats are sometimes for 2 or 3
hours on one location in full sun in the south of Spain. Even if the
battery would be charged for a 1/4th of the full capacity that would
be great.

Eddy


Glenn Ashmore wrote in message news:oDSub.9601$0K4.7152@lakeread04...
Not a bad plan. It just takes a LOT of patience. :-)

JerryS wrote:
Well Eddy, so far none of the replies have been of much encouragement ......
for me either. I was contemplating utilizing a 12 volt marine battery in
my ..... canoe so that when those long stretches of wind in my face
flat-water occurred, I could just get a boost.
Then when the battery got low I figured to use a solar charger to reload the
battery. Looks like a bad plan.
Jerry