I know you are correct, and I have been contorting myself to avoid building either a bank of LiFePO4 batteries/cells in a dry box with a battery management system and a Bluetooth temperature system, an LiFePO4 server rack battery size situation in a dry box (how I regulate the temperature here I am not sure), a large 200+ Ah 12V solution (Xantrex - Xantrex Lithium Ion Battery 240Ah 12Vdc #BDX20145 (emarineinc.com) ), or some other such dollar sucking device. I also remain concerned about temperature extremes, hot and cold in their performance, and how I set up a DC-DC charger solution as I don't think I need to invert and then charge another DC portable battery/power supply.
Hmmm...sounds more like you're putting together residential system on a (floating) second home, the entire cost of which then becomes eligible for those sweet sweet solar tax credits
If I take my father who is close to 80, the one who walked me down Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden at 4 years old, and to the river at 6, the one who took me from the top down to Vasey’s Paradise at 16 when it wasn’t called canyoneering then, the one who let me row an 18’ Sotar on my first go down the River (yes, I popped out on House Rock…now I run that one the best), the one who gave me my love for the Canyon, I need to cover 2 CPAPs. They draw about an amp each, peak wattage at 27.Hmmm...sounds more like you're putting together residential system on a (floating) second home, the entire cost of which then becomes eligible for those sweet sweet solar tax credits
I'm all about DIY and homebrew, but boy howdy when it comes to solar/power/electricity/batteries/etc will always spend the extra bucks on reputable brands and prebuilt (warranteed) products if only to minimize the risk (liability) of fire. In the end though, maybe there's at least some solace in that old adage suggesting any boat is merely a hole in the water into which money is poured.
Was gonna say "why worry about a fire when you're surrounded by water". Then remembered what lithium does when it meets water...
This power demand can only be maintained on a motor trip.... the new tohatsu motors have a 21 Amp alternator, charging that much stuff and running a freezer is only going to be workable on a snout or larger boat...
Given the issues with dunking in the drink even with large splash, my sense is that a small marine marine turbine (small is relative, to produce any power it has to be about a meter in diameter) is an in camp set up on the back of the boat. My logic being that one is in camp more than on the water statistically.
this is a sweet set up, with superior panels. No issues with excess temps?
This is one thing I have been trying to engineer. I look at items such as EG4-WP Waterproof Lithium Battery | 48V 100AH | Bluetooth - Signature Solar and sense that in a dry box within a dry box it is doable. I am considering how composites may make this more lightweight as in a marine application.
No question this is the "how it has been done" answer. Two each 200 W Renogy flexible panels mounted on a piece of fiberglass over a flexible core while on the water covering the back of the gear/boat, and a wind turbine in camp with 6 kWh battery bank capacity seems like it could possibly manage this as well. I would want to use my cousin's children and my grandchildren as my energy crew and camera crew.
Not doing the Debbie Downer buttttt…, the tether seems to be an issue with twisting, maintaining stability in the current also one problem as the river will want to do what it wants to do, silt seems to be a problem, and although I have looked at it up and down, looked at off the shelf solutions for farmers, and even thought about the ability to raise and lower a fixed system from a cataraft in the current, I can’t seem to come up with a stable solution in my mind that makes me want to consider even a beta test.
no if things got too hot i could just throw some water on them.
find a way to mount them to a Bimini top. best place for them to get sun, and possibly, set it up so when you drop the bimini they lay down on your gear pile. I think if you set your mind to running all that you will figure out a way to make it work. that 200AH lithium battery will be a must. keeping everything DC will improve efficiency as well.
Finding two newer batteries on sale as I was looking at building one. Epoch and Roy Pow have ridiculously low prices with battery heater, Bluetooth, BMS, 100 Ah for about $300. Four in series with a separate 200 A BMS (?) would be 100 Ah 48 and able to pull real amps, as well as 200 Ah equivalent to run two travel CPAPs for 16 days.
Since this hasn't come up yet, I thought its worth mentioning that bigger batteries and the process of charging them can generate a lot of heat (esp from 300-400 watts of solar power), which on the river also has to be contained in order to be waterproof and of course prevent explosive/unextinguishable fires in the case of lithium. So in an environment that is already hot like the GC, to me that could be troublesome since the gradient between the temp inside the waterproof box (already containing a battery in a box itself) and outside the waterproof box may not be large enough to promote the kind of cooling needed to prevent a thermal runaway. I think instead that two 50AH batteries in separate ammo cans with swappable (SAE?) connectors is probably a smarter move, as then have one to swap between and charge along with another to use during layover days.
