I need a lightweight form fitting solar panel with the best power potential?
Question by David Schwarz: I need a lightweight form fitting solar panel with the best power potential?
it will be form fitted to a kayak boat, obviously must be waterproof and provide me with as close to 400 watts or more that I can get. It will be a solar powered kayak. The important factors are waterproof first, then weight, then power output per area, then form fitting. I could mount the panels even if they are not flexible to the hull of the boat, but of course I would like it to look nice and flex around the boat.
Best answer:
Answer by Rudydoo
Hey David, the device you are looking for is called an, “Amourphous,” solar panel. They are flexible, sometimes made to be rolled up and stuffed inside a backpack for camping, or they can come in a roll with adhesive backing, and so forth.
It sounds like you might not have done the math on this one yet. I assume you have calculated 400 watts by looking at what the motor will use, that would be around 2/3 horsepower or so. Are you driving the kayak with an electric trolling motor? The kayak will run fine, but a 400 watt amourphous panel will need almost 50 square feet of exposed sun area to run at that output. I’m guessing your kayak doesn’t have the square footage.
I did see a home built electric kayak like this in Seattle once, it was really very impressive, all wood, with just the motor end of a trolling motor mounted below the hull just ahead of the rudder. The driver steered with his feet of course, but had a small flat wood surface area just ahead of him that a thin panel was glued down to. It was probably only 20 or 30 watts, but the output was used to charge a marine battery that was mounted on the floor between his legs. He could troll for quite a while on the battery at various speeds, but the panel would slowly recharge the battery anytime it was in the sun, this included sitting on top of the roof of his truck while he was driving. It also acted to extend the battery time while kayaking in the sun, as it added an amp or two to the battery while the motor was taking 20 or so out.
There is also the fact that a battery acts as a natural voltage regulator for a solar panel, so the voltage being fed to the motor stays right near 12 volts instead of varying from 1 to as high as 19 depending on how much sun there was and what speed the motor ran at. If you end up building this, you also have to consider a charge controller, or the lack of one. A rule of thumb is if the maximum amp output of the panel you are using is less than 2% of the battery amp hour capacity, then you do not need a controller. Controllers cost money, and they are usually what breaks down first in a solar system. Let’s say you have a marine deep cycle trolling battery, it might be rated at 80 amp hours. If you bought a 30 watt panel, which is usually wired for 18 volts, then its maximum amperage would be 1.6, which would just work. (30 watts / 18 volts = 1.6 amps) (80 amp hour X 2% = 1.6 amps) Anything above this 2% and you’ll need a charge controller to keep from overcharging the battery. If you decide to go with more solar and use a smaller lighter battery for weight, that’s fine, just make sure you get a charge controller that can handle whatever amperage your total solar array will develope. I’ll list some sources for you to check out below David. Good luck on your kayak, and take care ,Rudydoo
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