Hi I'm hoping to build a barrel raft pontoon 5m x 3m with a small cabin and a roof the the length of the raft and a small floating trailer with solar panels to a total of 3000w made of 12 250w 50.75 volts 4.92 amps panels and 4 200Ah 12v deep cycle batteries i hope to power 3 60lbs 12v 53amps 684w each trolling motors it should (hopefully)weight under 1000kg  i would like to explore the murray-darling river system here in Australia which covers WELL over  a 1000km's of river day light travel only is fine as I'm in no rush and 15km/h speeds would do fine if i could maintain that all day my quetions are #1 should this set up give me the power to motor all day in perfect conditions #2 will a trolling motor power all day every day for weeks or months at a time reliably sorry if I've forgot key info I'm starting from scratch here trying to build my knowledge any info would be appreciated p.s the pic is a build by the barrel raft boys love yah work boys 

that's a lot of weight, and wind resistance. good luck

I'm planning on making mine lighter kanvas walls and what not but yeah weight will be the problem to move something the size of the raft in the pic what (ball park figure) type of lbs do you think I'd need 

build it on a catamaran base, you could use the sails at times. very stable too. less drag than those barrels 

The problem is weight and wind resistance. We use aluminum pontoons to float a house boat becaus of underwater obstructions and minimum water resistance. I don't know of a solar powered house boat. Your goal could be achieved using a combination of solar cells on the roof if the roof is able to adjust to possition Suns angle and use a gasoline powered generator like Honda to recharge batteries at night. There are electric marine motors that produce 3 to 8 horse power ratings operating on 48 volts by companies like Electric Boat Co. I would contact Electric Boat Co with your inquiry and determine who mfr's their motors used to propel thier boats.

Tom

PS, Elco and Torpedo make 48V outboard electric motors, $$$$ pricey. 

 

Cheers wrb and b-dozer food for thought i think i might have design changes to think about 

Welcome aboard, Tom!