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| I have just bought my retirement property. It's a condominium situation where I am not on the water but have access and 1 side of a dock to keep my boat. Problem is that there is no power at the dock and I can't have any run because it is a shared common area.
Anyway, does anyone know of a solar panel setup that can charge your trolling motor batteries (24 volt system) while the boat remains at the dock.
This is my dream retirement, over 7000 acres of good musky waters, but hauling 100 lbs of batteries back and forth would be a nightmare.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Don Woznicki |
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| Not sure you are going to find a "charger" like you want. Most readily available solar panels are going to be limited in their ability and would act only as a trickle charger on something as large as a trolling motor battery. Most solar chargers are only intended to maintain charge in a battery and compensate for self discharge and maybe the drain of a computer.
Not sure there is a good alternative to hauling batteries back and forth and that would be a real pain. |
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Posts: 8
| I believe someone makes a charger that charges of your engine. Starter battery first, when it's charged it will switch automatically to trolling batteries. I have seen it at Bass Pro around $100.00 if I remember. welts-mskckr |
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Posts: 129
| ive seen them either at basspro or cabelas. cant remember but they are about $100. ive been wanting to get one because the solar power is better for the enviroment and no enviroment, no muskies! |
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Posts: 342
Location: Passaic, NJ - Upper French River, ON | Check out " The Alternative Energy Store."
We're looking into a 24v solar setup for just that purpose and run a water pump, and chemical toilet.
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Posts: 375
Location: Browerville, Minnesota | You can also check out the new charger by MinnKota. It takes the charge from your big motor and puts it to your trolling motor batteries while you drive or have the big motor running. Don't know how well it works, but with water as big as you say, you might have some longer runs that will keep your batteries charged up! |
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| you might have to take them batteries out everyday or two depending how much kuice you use,and that would be a pain,might want to think about a generator if noise isn,t a big isue for a couple of hours. |
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| Thanks again everybody for your suggestions.
welts & Manta 18, I had looked at that possibility over the winter but I run a 150 Opti and apparently the opti's need all the juice they can get while running so that could hurt the performance, good thought though.
Fishguide, generator at the dock not a possibility, writzy neighberhood, that's why I am across the street with an access trail.
esoxhunter951 & gimo, I have started looking at solar, don't know if there would be a system strong enough. I have a 20 amp charger to 2 optima baterries. If there is low power to the battery charger it could go bad. But gimo, The Alternative Energy Store did give me another idea to pursue. My dock is on the main channel of this flowage, the Wisconsin River, so it may sound a little goofy but they sell micro-hydro units. Use the river current to generate power.
Thanks again everyone,
Don Woznicki |
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Posts: 32945
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | E-cell is working on a solar system right now that will work in concert with other new products they have planned. Watch for announcements this summer. |
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| Thanks for the response Steve, not to bug you but, that caught my interest. Is there anymore info available? Website etc. Do you think they will be producing systems this summer or just start to announce they are working on it. When I google it e-cell comes up pretty generic.
Thanks for any info you can supply
Don Woznicki |
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Posts: 227
Location: New Brighton, MN | Sorry to bring this quesiton up again.... but hey, it's the age of technology, mabye something better has been invented in the past 14 months. (E-cell?)
Has anyone found a decent solar pannel to re-charge their trolling motor battery? I'm a weekend fisherman, so I would allow a week to re-charge at minimum.
I found a solar pannel on basspro.com for $36, but it seems too good to be true.
Are these systems for re-charging, or maintenance?
Does anyone have experience with these systems?
Thanks,
Willis
Edited by Willis 5/29/2008 4:26 PM
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Posts: 311
Location: Ontario | There are deep cycle batteries that you can buy that weight less than ten pounds, and they're pretty expensive. There's that arm of the technology that's still relatively new. Another idea would be a small dock cart or dolley. I'd think at the end of the day, you'd be hauling other stuff to and from the dock (trash, fishing equipment, wet gear, removable electronics like your main sonar etc etc). A little two wheel dolley with a box on top would work well. Many lodges and resorts use them for clearing gear off docks at float plane bases. I also see many people use them at large marinas hauling groceries and ice, coolers etc to and from big boats that are moored. They carry a lot of gear and weight very little. They come in a range of sizes, and many of the ones I've used and seen used were home made. A length of light axle and two old mountian bike tires under a wood box, basically. Also seen small wheelbarrow tires used. Good luck, if you follow the stock mkt, solar is still a speculative and unproven industry, for the most part. It's amazing that in 2008, more isn't being done to intelligently and usefully harness the sun, on a consumer and industrial basis. |
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Posts: 135
| another good source for alternative energy like solar, wind and hydro is Real Goods,
www.realgoods.com, I believe. From looking at their catalog, you'd need quite a bit of panel to get a charge in less than a day or two from solar, like two 2X4' panels.
Good luck and good pursuit.
W |
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Posts: 181
Location: Valparaiso, Indiana | I have one of these and its awsome...
http://www.chargingchargers.com/solar/ss10-24.html
http://www.chargingchargers.com/solar/bsp1024-lss.html
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Don- This all depends on what you want to accomplish, i.e., overnight recharge or maintenance (trickle) charge.
I don't think solar is a practical solution if you want overnight recharge, i.e., no sunlight. Besides the required solar system to allow proper recharge of your batteries would likely cost + $1,500 and require a shore line installation or installation on the dock itself. The solar panels are going to occupy some real estate. My best guess would be a minimum of 2 panels at 60" x 30" ea. Are they going to let you install something that occupies area in the common space? Then there's the problem of the available sunlight, i.e., given the weather, it could take days or a week to recharge..
I'd probably go for something like a Yamaha 1000W Portable Generator #EF1000ISC . Just plug in the on board charger and start it up. Heck, it's small enough at 27lb, that you probably could keep it on the boat.
http://www.usdieselengines.com/Yamaha-Generators.htm
Good luck!
Al |
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Posts: 531
Location: Hugo, MN | Don't any of the rich people need to charge their batteries, too? I'm sure with a little persistence, you could get them to run some power down there. Doesn't seem like much to ask. If it came up at a property owners meeting, I think you'd find that you're not the only one that needs power down there. A small solar panel is not going to give you the power you'll need to charge 2 batteries. If it did, we'd have it all over the place by now. Hope they'll help you out. |
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| Hi Don, saw your forum and thought I would leave some ideas. First I'd like to say I have a small solar kit on my troller, I rarely have to recharge my battery. There are different kinds of solar panels each having pros and cons. Some panels are more efficient which makes a big difference in the size of panels needed. I'm a diy type so I tried making my own panels. You save a lot but they don't produce as much as other forms of solar. Also it takes a lotof time, no matter what type make sure you have blocking diodes on your system. Best thing to do is work with expierenced solar people and put together your own system with quality panels. Also your battery makes a huge difference. I switched to a bluetop marine battery by optima because I found there redtop car battery far better than most. Same thing went for the blue top, I can drane it over and over. well olar keeps getting better to so who knows. Here are some sources I got ideas from and then went to a solar place to figure out what worked for me.
Go to www.youtube.com and search -solar powered pontoon boat- its by tamerack lake electric boat company. Watch the video for ideas.
Theres a company called earthcare solar that makes kits for golfcarts and troller motors www.solarenergygolfcarts.com or www.golfcarsolar.com they have boat kits.
I actually found a lot of solar marine kits ranging from $700 t0 $2000.00 most used sunsei brand solar panels but there are a lot of good brands.
Hope some of this helps.
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Posts: 232
Location: Sun Prairie, WI | I have seen many solor chargers on docks that are used to charge the battery that operates a boat lift in areas where people don't or can't have lines run. Check into a boat shore station dealer. |
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| A good book to start with is 'The Renewable Energy Handbook"
http://www.aztext.com/reh.cfm
Check out some of the systems being used in Alberta Canada, they could be adapted for your application.
http://www.solarpanel.ca/ |
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Posts: 360
Location: Tinley Park. Fish Cen IL. Bass & Vilas Cty.Muskie | Do you have a roof on your dock ? If so ???? How much sun do you get when boat is docked? Buy a small Honda Generator and keep it in your storage compartment on Dock. You can find them on craigslist for $100-$200. |
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Posts: 295
Location: Southern Ontario, Detroit River and Lake StClair | I think you best bet here would be to look into a small windmill. A buddy of mine has one out on his chicken coop to run the lights inside and charge the battery that runs the water pump . He's never had problem with it. Even on days with the lightest breeze its turning and making power. Something like that mounted on a post on the dock, or maybe talk with some of the other owners about all splitting on a larger wind mill that could give everyone power. In our area of Ontario wind power is huge in both residential and commercial applications. Check out some of the lower priced ones show in the link.
http://www.magnet4less.com/index.php?cPath=8_119
Good Fishin'
Tim
Edited by Roughneck1860 9/20/2009 1:51 PM
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