Trolling Motor Solar Panel Battery Charging on a Small Boat.
Can you run an electric trolling motor off of solar power? Are you considering a solar panel for a small boat? If you're researching a small solar powered boat project, this video covers some of the size and economic aspects of installing solar panels to a tiny boat compared to other approaches. Solar panels can be used on boats for charging batteries. Solar panels can be effective and useful to help maintain batteries. But on a small 12 foot boat will a small solar panel provide any value to help keep a trolling motor battery charged? Are there better and cheaper options to extend the range of my trolling motor? I explore whether a small solar panel could maintain my 12 volt battery for my Minn Kota trolling motor and if not, how much solar or how many solar panels would I need to be able to use my trolling motor all day?

This video addresses questions like:
Can a solar panel keep boat batteries charged?
Can I get more range out of my trolling motor with a solar panel?
What does it cost to add a solar panel to my small boat?
Can I use solar to run my trolling motor?
What would it cost to make a solar powered small boat?

Portable and fixed mount solar panel systems and kits can be used to charge the batteries on a boat. On really small boats or tiny boats, there isn't enough space to place the 100 watt or larger solar panels to keep a 12 volt battery or batteries charged. Solar panels are the current best way to harness energy to recharge batteries while out on the water, but on a small boat that is running an electric trolling motor (like my Minn Kota Riptide 55 12 volt 55 lb thrust motor), solar panels are expensive and bulky and would only be able to recharge my battery if I was boating in the summer, under full sun with the panels well aligned to the sun. Smaller and cheaper solar panel kits will work to recharge a battery that wasn't under a load, but it could take several hours under ideal conditions. If a person is using their trolling motor to travel and then sitting in one place for a while without using the motor, a small solar panel could help and keep a battery charged on a boat.

Interested in some of the items shown in this video?
20 Watt portable kit: https://amzn.to/3Me6gA4
600 W solar panel system: https://amzn.to/3w8tW3l
200 W solar panel kit: https://amzn.to/3sxFhaS
Portable 200 Watt solar kit: https://amzn.to/3wbR551
Trolling motors sold by Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PlGHyY
Renogy 100Ah lithium battery: https://amzn.to/38kaurr
As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

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