Green Boat - Opinions

[countrymayhem]

So i was thinking of a new project.

I already posted about doing some work on my 12ft jon boat. Currently i don't know the make or model . I just know Its a 12ft alluminum boat.

So I am all about conservation, and not being locked down as much. Now with this idea of a project I do understand i wont be breaking any land speed records but think green.

If there is a will there is a way, i want to go all electric, but not just all electric i wanna put ways to harness free energy to keep me going. Devices like solar panels and wind turbines.

Now i was thinking 2 trollers in the rear and either another one in the front or a steering prop up front or what not.

Build a cover for the rear and mount the panels on the top along with wind turbines. This would be a cool project to me. Any ideas, thoughts?

 

[earl60446]

No kind of reasonable boat mounted solar or wind power is gonna keep trolling batteries charged.
Gonna be a lot of money spent and you still are gonna be using standard chargers at home.
Tim

 

[rscottp]

Doubt you will able to put the wind/solar on your boat but that doesn't mean you can't go green. Why don't you rig up wind/solar at home to charge you batteries?

 

[FerrisBueller]

I agree with rscottp, you'd be wasting your time trying to rig up any kind of solar panel/wind turbine on the boat. You'd be better of just setting up some sort of solar/wind charging system at home. It will take quite some time to charge up batteries for the boat and it would be far easier just charging them at home.

It's a cool idea for sure, just not very practical for these applications and the scale

 

[earl60446]

Put some rod holders on this and your in business.
Tim

 

[vapiper]

Not wanting to go totally green...but have been thinking about using solar for phone charger, and minor trickle charger for the trolling motor when just sitting, not being used (not really a priority)......but mostly just for use and charging of my phone.....owning a 14" tin boat....I don't want to buy a multi hundred dollar chart plotter/gps....can use my phone and plenty of "apps for that" lol...I've seen some solar powered radios (with hand crank for those cloudy days/at night) which also have a phone charger.....so I know it won't take a LOT of solar power to give a phone a charge.....

has anyone hooked any kind of solar up to their boat? eventually I will do this once I do more research into how many/size panels one would need...but what the heck, I enjoy tinkering so..who knows...maybe something that can mount to a Bimini top....

 

[WaterWaif]

See some docked craft using solar panels to maintain a charged battery.
If living on your craft a generation system would make more sense than a base at a land home. But.. if you have a land home a bank of batteries(they do get recycled so there's a hint of green) would help you in a power outage as well as, depending on investment help reduce grid provided energy..
Stability of a turbine to be considered too on board. An interesting concept and a solar troller would be cool and generation by other means should be possible with boat movement.One type motor in treadmills DC permanent worth a consideration if free for sure.

https://www.thebackshed.com/windmill/articles/gettingstarted.asp

 

[MrSimon]

Why not just get a canoe or kayak and paddle it. Can't get much more green than that.

On a side note, I bought a 16w four panel solar charger to keep my phone and gopro charged while on the boat. Its works OK, but its a LOT slower than plugging it to the wall.

If you really want a green way to power a trolling motor, you can go to harbor freight and get a couple of large solar panels and rig them up to charge a deep cycle battery. Get two batteries and switch them out. I'm not sure, but I think you could charge up a deep cycle in two or three days max.

 

[keelme]

I seen a solar power gheenoe he said it would run 18mph all day

 

[great white]

Oars.

Green as it gets and you'll get lots of exercise. Build up a good appetite for all you'll catch too.

:wink:

A smaller battery and a couple smallish solar panel to recharge it so you can charge cell phones, run led lights, etc.

Of you're talking trolling motors, you won't get enough solar panels on a 12' tinny to make much of a diff anyways....

 

[acabtp]

keep dreaming.

here's a little math to bring you back to earth... 55# trolling motor uses ~ 40 amps at 12v = 480 watts.

https://www.amazon.com/RENOGY-Monocrystalline-Photovoltaic-Battery-Charging/dp/B009Z6CW7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408034287&sr=8-1&keywords=renogy
this is a good example of modern high efficiency mono crystalline solar panel. i use these panels for my garden and home solar systems. they are about 4'x2' and rated for 100w max output, but solar panels only make their rated capacity when they perpendicular to the sun in full daylight. since it wouldn't be practical to have solar tracking mounts on a boat nor to only fish when there are no clouds or shadows from trees, it is safe to assume that the panels would be making half their rated capacity, so 50 w each (and that's being very generous, more likely the average output would be more like a third). it would take a minimum of ten panels (50w x 10 = 500w) to run the trolling motor reliably.

ten panels, at a total cost of $1500 and a combined size of about two and a half sheets of plywood... to run a single 55# motor... forget about two. you will never fit it on a 12' boat... not even room for half. it is just not practical to directly power a small boat with solar.

if you really want to be "green", you could recharge your deep cycle battery with a smaller solar array, or buy green energy credits from your electrical supplier and recharge your battery at home.

 

[SumDumGuy]

Green boat...

 

[turbotodd]

how does NASA keep the batteries charged, and power their extra terrestrial vehicles when not in direct sunlight?

It's not "green"....it could be done here on earth; and last a LONG time-but there are some serious secondhand effects-like cancers associated with radioactive materials.

There is no free lunch. The solar panels are a good idea, but they had to be manufactured, which is not exactly green either.

Got to thinking about paddling. Man, after paddling a while, I gotta stop and have a glass of tea. Paddle some more, and get hungry. Pull up to the bank and cook your catch. Have to use fire to cook. No green in burning leaves and sticks is there? Then after you eat, you gotta pee (or poo; or heaven forbid BOTH). How green is that? Not to mention the amount of non-green manufacturing went into making your rods, reels, LINE, your boat, your wiring, trolling motors, clothing on your back, etc.

 

[richg99]

I rarely comment on Green issues...but...you've got the old capitalist in me thinking here.

My simple, logical (to me) way of thinking about a Green project is....if it won't stand on its own, then the technology isn't advanced far enough yet to be viable.

I.e. if it needs a subsidy to get people to buy/use it...we aren't there yet.

I am all for Green everything. I can even stomach a little bit of Government (our money) funds to help new processes get going.

But, as is well illustrated above, very few "green" programs are ready to do the everyday, mundane things that people would like them to do ....at a cost that is economically realistic.

Even electric cars have to be charged by a power grid that is burning fossil fuels.

One of these days, our smart scientists will break the technology barrier. I am hoping it is soon.

Unfortunately, I don't think we are there yet.

richg99

 

[Ail]

turbotodd » 15 Aug 2014, 23:45[/url]"]

Got to thinking about paddling. Man, after paddling a while, I gotta stop and have a glass of tea. Paddle some more, and get hungry. Pull up to the bank and cook your catch. Have to use fire to cook. No green in burning leaves and sticks is there? Then after you eat, you gotta pee (or poo; or heaven forbid BOTH). How green is that? Not to mention the amount of non-green manufacturing went into making your rods, reels, LINE, your boat, your wiring, trolling motors, clothing on your back, etc.

LOL! :lol:

Thanks for putting things in to perspective mate. :mrgreen: