The Solar challenge was on! August 2016.

 

If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.

''Joseph Campbell''

Humble beginnings.      

Eerste treë!

Experimenting and learning about salar power.   

Die begin van n baie interessante en  leersame ondervinding.

                                    

To begin with we purchased a 90 Watt solar panel and a P.W.M. Charge controller. A steel tubing construction was made to house the solar panel above to get max sunlight without any obstruction. It was secured above onto a canvas that gave shade to the occupants. 

Several tests for short periods of time were made at Coligny's Taaibosspruit Dam in good weather conditions. Since our very first cruise with electric propulsion our exploation senses were awakened, therefore we named the boat 👉 "Spirit of Kon-Tiki".

Vir eers het ons net n klein solarpaneel aangeskaf. Ons het ook die eenvoudigste kragreguleerder (PWM) daarvoor gekry. Ons het n staalpyp afdak konstruksie gebou en die sonpaneel daarop gemonteer. Die sonpaneel het ons in staat gestel om langer op n dag te kon vaar maar was nie genoeg om aanmekaar heeldag te vaar nie. Ons het ook net in mooiweer toestande hierdie toetse gedoen. Dit was weereens n baie aangename ondervindig en ons het daaraan begin dink om ekspedisies op groot damme te gaan doen sodra ons die reikafstand sou kon verbeter.

We then took the boat to 👉 Barbers pan where it is known for it's " four seasons in one day'' weather, strong wind with large waves , and that was exactly what I hoped for to test boat stability and penetration into the wind. We found the pontoons cutting efficiently through the waves,  giving it a comfortable ride, but with the single 40lbs trolling motor our speed against the strong wind were not good. The small solar panel extended our range a bit  but full speed could not be maintained. 

Barberspan se waters strek oor n 2000 hektaar oppervlak. Met sterk winde kan die golwe daar baie rof  raak en selfs gevaarlik! Ek en n vriend het daar gaan vaar juis om die boot in rowwe toestande te toets, Die bootjie het die golwe uitstekend hanteer maar ons kon skaars teen die sterk wind vorder. Mer die motor op volkrag het die battery geleidelik begin krag verloor. Tog kon ons daarin slaag om reg dwars oor die pan en terug te vaar met net die 90W solar paneel as hulpmiddel vir die batterye. Hierdie prestasie het ons geinspireer en laat besef dat met meer sonpanele ons moontlik heeldag sou kon vaar.

Barbers pan's waters covers an area of some 2000 hectares. 
Here I stand very proud of myself after doing our first exploration trip in rough conditions with an under powered solar boat!

"Spirit of Kon-Tiki'' at Barbers pan eastern shore.

Improvements were done by installing more solar panels to the roof. We cruised for many hours on Disaneng Dam, testing the power system and enjoying the freedom! We managed to cruise more than twelve kilometers continuously at a mederate 5km/h while maintaining the battery voltage at 50% to 100% by solar power alone.

Late afternoon on Disaneng Dam.

Cruising on Disaneng Dam.

Off cause I tried my luck at fishing!

                                                                  Technical.

 The 90 Watt 👉 solar panel provides a maximum of 4 👉 Amps power, not enough to sustain the battery for too long. Thus, to match the motor's current draw, more solar panels needs to be installed.    

Die ideale sitsuasie is om meer solarkrag in te kry as wat die motor gebruik. Dit het geblyk dat die 2m x 1.6 meter afdak se oppervlak voldoende sou wees om dit reg te kry.                                                                     

 A solar power setup is not very sophisticated or difficult to install.

 n Solarkrag installasie is nie baie ingewikkeld of moelik om te installeer nie.

In fact, there are only two wires, a positive and a negative and four items that are inter connected. It is, however, important to connect polarity correctly, always positive wire to positive connection on the battery, solar panel,  charge controller and motor and components conected in the correct sequence. Same rules apply for the negative connections. 

The Solar panel converts the visible light spectrum into electricity. Power flows from the solar panel into the charge controller. The charge controller is connected to the battery. The motor is connected to the battery. The charge controller senses the battery charging state and decides if the battery needs charging or not. If the battery is already full the charge controller will limit the current flow to protect it from over charging. If the battery volts are low the charge controller will send available current into the battery. With the motor in use current is drawn from the battery. This causes the battery's volts to drop. The charge controller  senses the volt drop and will increase the charging rate accordingly. The solar array's current output matches or exceeds the motor current draw therefore it is possible to cruise continuously throughout a sunny day's daylight hours.  Its important to monitor battery volts and keep it in the working range. The battery should not be used until it is completely flat. A 12V battery's volts is typically 12.6V fully charged and 12.1V fully discharged. 

Daar is basies net posetiewe en negatiewe draad koneksies op vier verskillende items. Wat belangrik is is om die koneksies se polariteit korrek te koppel. Die sisteem werk so: Die sigbare lig spektrum word deur die sonpaneel in DC elektriese krag omskep en na die Kragreguleerder gestuur. Die kragreguleerder is aan die Battery gekoppel en die motor is ook aan die battery gekoppel. Die Kragreguleerder ''sien'' die batterty se toestand en indien die battery se Volts laag sou wees laat dit die krag vanaf die sonpaneel deur om die battery te laai. Indien die Battery reeds vol gelaai sou wees, beperk die Kragreguleerder die krag uitsending om die battery te beskerm teen oorlaai. Sodra die motor in werking is gebruik dit die gestoorde krag in die battery en die Volt lesing in die battery sal begin daal. Die Kragreguleerder ''sien'' die daling raak en stuur die beskikbare elektriese stroom vanaf die sonpanele deur om die battery op te vul.

We were pleased with the boats safety aspect and I felt more confident to take on larger lakes, but the power had to improve. Ideally the output from the solar panels should match or exceed the motor's current draw. Our vision was to explore the Gariep Dam as a challenge as soon as improvements were made to the power system.

Ons was baie tevrede met die boot se veiligheids aspekte, die gladde rit van hoe die pontoons deur die golwe sny en ons was verbaas om teen n spoed van tot 6km/u te kon vaar. Ekspedisies op groot waters was in sig.

Next:👉 First Gariep Dam Expedition

☝️Volgende vat ons die grootste mensgemaakte dam in Suid Afrika aan, die Gariepdam!