Category: Solar

Vlog 412: Tork of the town

Posted on September 20, 2026September 20, 2026 by David Johns

I was kindly invited aboard DB1, an all-electric prototype day boat for part of its journey along the length of the Thames, powered purely by the sun.

The third annual Electrika show was held again at Brinklow marina in mid-July but rather than film flashy boat tours, I thought I’d take the opportunity to challenge experts and exhibitors about how safe we are having lithium batteries aboard, as these are widely used on electric narrowboats but you cannot help but see worrying stories about battery fires.

Vlog 394: Home Improvements

Posted on March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 by David Johns

A few weeks ago, I uploaded a video discussing some of the DIY projects I have in mind for my narrowboat, Gentian. Here, I show you updates and improvements I’ve made.

Vlog 333: The Write Stuff

Posted on May 20, 2024August 5, 2024 by David Johns

Two things: a) after at least two years, I have finally finished by book all about the canals, and 2) an update on the Twiggy refurbishment.

Vlog 332: Charging Ahead

Posted on May 10, 2024August 5, 2024 by David Johns

The first (possibly to-be-annual) Electrika event for people to get together and discuss electric propulsion on canal boats and narrowboats was held last weekend; I went along and this is my document of the proceedings.

Vlog 260: Power Ranger

Posted on March 11, 2022May 7, 2024 by David Johns

A sit-down chat about how the new 540W solar panel helped over winter, and mention of the lead carbon batteries I installed in summer 2019.

Vlog 251: The Bright Side of Life

Posted on November 3, 2021May 7, 2024 by David Johns

This is a long video indeed. It covers the complete installation and configuration of an additional 540W solar panel along with two new Epever Tracer MPPT solar charge controllers and all the wiring etc.

Vlog 244: Electric Dreams

Posted on July 13, 2021May 7, 2024 by David Johns

At the end of May 2021, I attended a narrowboat trials day arranged by boat builder Ortomarine. Starting on the River Severn and going up the Droitwich canals, eight boats using a variety of power plants would have their fuel, efficiency and any solar input measured and compared. This video summarises what happened and the results.

Vlog 76: Winter Sun

Posted on January 21, 2017May 7, 2024 by David Johns

Can a decently-sized solar array provide enough power for day to day living on a narrowboat during the winter? There’ll be sunny days, there’ll be cloudy days, there’ll be rainy days and maybe even snow – but can the panels pull in the power? In this video, I do some sums.

Vlog 57: Sunny Side Up

Posted on August 20, 2016May 7, 2024 by David Johns

I’ve been sent an 80 Watt semi-flexible solar panel to review by a company called Lensun so here are my thoughts on the panel (until the point where I broke it, for more on which, watch the video).