Since I'm new to the field of solar energy I've got a few questions:

We have a boat which is propulsed by an electric outboard. Of course
after a few hours the battery starts getting flat.
The idea is to mount some solar panels on the boat, but I have no idea
how many or what equipment to use.

My questions a

-- How many and which solar panels do I use?
-- What kind of a battery charger do I need?
-- What other equipment do I need?

The motor is a 12 V Motorguide outboard

Looking forward to seeing some answers.

Thanks

Eddy
South of Spai

On 18 Nov 2003 23:53:38 -0800, (Edwin Antonius
van Gorp) wrote:

Since I'm new to the field of solar energy I've got a few questions:

We have a boat which is propulsed by an electric outboard. Of course
after a few hours the battery starts getting flat.
The idea is to mount some solar panels on the boat, but I have no idea
how many or what equipment to use.

My questions a

-- How many and which solar panels do I use?
-- What kind of a battery charger do I need?
-- What other equipment do I need?

The motor is a 12 V Motorguide outboard

Looking forward to seeing some answers.

Thanks

Eddy
South of Spai
Without knowing anything about the motor, how you use it, where you
live, etc, it's not posible to give a definitive answer. If you'e
looking for something that will give you the ability to use the motor
continuously, it's probably not possible, but let's do the math.

Let's assume the battery is 100 amp hours, for simplicity's sake.
Let's also assume that "flat" means 50% discharged and we can say
you've used something like 50 amp hours. To replace 50 amp hours in a
typical full *day* of sunshine in the southern half of the US, I'd
probably want 150-200 watts of solar panels. Go on the web and search
for solar power companies like www.solar-electric.com or manufacturers
like Kyocera or Siemens (now Shell Solar, I think) and check out the
size and weight (and cost!) of 200 watts worth of panels. I think
you'll be impressed.

__________________________________________________ __________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson usenet1 SPAMNIX at worldwidewiley dot com
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

I hate to rain on a parade.

You will have to have a solar array larger than the boat to just keep up
with a electric trolling motor.

Now if you just want to charge the battery while the boat is tied up or at a
mooring, then you could get by with a 50 watt panel that could charge a
group 27 battery in a day or so of good sun light.

Before you commit yourself to a project like this, you should realize the
limitation of solar and the number of watts your motor will use, battery
capacity, etc.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Well ... up here in the woods :-), you backpack your canoe, trolling motor,
solar charger etc into the lake ... and basically trickle charge the battery
when it's not in use, while drinking beer and so on ... it's the only way.
Maybe your only way will be to carry a dozen batteries or so to get you
through the day.


"Edwin Antonius van Gorp" wrote in message
om...
Since I'm new to the field of solar energy I've got a few questions:

We have a boat which is propulsed by an electric outboard. Of course
after a few hours the battery starts getting flat.
The idea is to mount some solar panels on the boat, but I have no idea
how many or what equipment to use.

My questions a

-- How many and which solar panels do I use?
-- What kind of a battery charger do I need?
-- What other equipment do I need?

The motor is a 12 V Motorguide outboard

Looking forward to seeing some answers.

Thanks

Eddy
South of Spai

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

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

I have photovoltaic panels over my house.
Don't remember exactly the size but is in the 10 square meters range (around
100 square foot, more or less).
The panels, placed at the correct angle, direction south, produces 1500
Watt (no typo, about 2 Hp) at noon in summer sunny day.
Disregarding efficency, if you have used 2 hp for 1 hour, you need 1hour of
sun at right angle...
Here, in Italy, the price is in the 10000-15000 $ range :-( maybe in USA is
a bit less, but not so much...
You can compute from this...

Paolo

My questions a

-- How many and which solar panels do I use?
-- What kind of a battery charger do I need?
-- What other equipment do I need?

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

Edwin Antonius van Gorp wrote:

Since I'm new to the field of solar energy I've got a few questions:

We have a boat which is propulsed by an electric outboard. Of course
after a few hours the battery starts getting flat.
The idea is to mount some solar panels on the boat, but I have no idea
how many or what equipment to use.

My questions a

-- How many and which solar panels do I use?
-- What kind of a battery charger do I need?
-- What other equipment do I need?

The motor is a 12 V Motorguide outboard

Looking forward to seeing some answers.

Thanks

Eddy
South of Spai

A bimini type sun shade overhead made from solar cells could
provide a steady charge for a deep cycle battery while providing
some relief from the sun. If you get to the point where it's hot,
and you are a long way up the creek with no juice left, perhaps
you would think that one of those tiny 2 cycle genset battery
chargers, about the size of a breadbox and about 10 pounds, would
provide a means to get home, as well as providing a useful genset
for other purposes? For instance, a gas furnace doesn't use much
power, it only needs to drive the fan, really.

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