Building a Solar-Powered FluxJet Kayak | Part 1 of 3

It has been months since the last FluxJet video. Production came first: the crew has been building so many kayaks that Jason jokes they stopped counting boats and started counting containers. So the comeback video had to be big.

His plan: take a stock FluxJet, convert it into a solar-powered kayak in 24 hours using parts already in the shop, then point it down the American River for a maximum-range run. James, who would rather not be on camera, got recruited anyway. This is Part 1: the build.

The Idea: A 24-Hour Solar Conversion

Everyone asks how far a FluxJet can go. Jason's answer is to find out the extreme way: harvest energy from the sun, feed it into a battery, run the jet drive on it, and see how far downriver that combination can travel.

The route starts on the American River just below the dam at Lake Natoma and runs down into the Sacramento River, with Sacramento as the first big milestone and much bigger distances floated as the dream scenario. The upper stretch includes class 2 rapids. The run is planned to last 24 hours straight, which means half of it happens in the dark.

Everything gets data logged along the way, so the results can be compared against what the stock kayak does without the solar gear. Part science, part stunt, and on a deadline: the boat has to be in the water the next morning.

Parts From the Hoard

Twenty-four hours leaves no time to order anything, so the build starts in a storage container full of parts collected over years of R&D. The haul: lightweight flexible solar panels (two small, two large), a charge controller, mounts and hardware from YakAttack, and the usual bins of connectors and cable.

The layout comes together on the kayak itself. The two smaller panels go toward the front, the two larger ones toward the back. The charge controller is small enough to take the place of one of the gear boxes. Nothing about the plan is precious, and Jason says so: normally this would be carbon fiber and 3D-printed parts. On this timeline it is wood, which he calls mother nature's carbon fiber.

Mounting Panels That Can Move

The hard problem is access. Hard-mounting the rear panels would seal off everything underneath them, so the panels go on articulating arms instead: blockoff plates at the back, lock-and-load bases, homemade poles, and pivot adapters borrowed from camera gear. The crew nicknamed the approach Hack Attack.

Movable panels solve two problems at once. They swing out of the way when Jason needs to reach the deck and wiring underneath, and they can be tilted toward the sun to make more power than a panel lying flat. The front panels mount along the gunnels, and conduit clips, trimmed down, turn out to fit the rails almost like they were made for it.

The Wiring: Series, Parallel, and a 36V Battery

The kayak runs a 36-volt battery, and the charge controller is a convertible unit that can accept up to 60 volts. One rule drives the wiring layout: with this controller, the solar array voltage has to stay lower than the battery voltage.

So each pair of panels is wired in series to make 24 volts, and the front and rear pairs are then run in parallel. James built extension cables to tie it together. Jason's verdict on the result: it works, and it is a hot mess, which is a concerning combination on a swift river. The final connections were checked the practical way. It did not blow up.

First Power: About 150 Watts, Lying Flat

By 2 PM the kayak rolled outside for its first real test. In afternoon sun, with the panels lying flat, the system was generating roughly 150 watts.

Each panel is rated for about that much on its own, and Jason is quick to point out that a flat panel never reaches its rating. The number still matters, because the kayak itself sips power at low speed: it makes over 2 miles an hour on roughly 50 watts. Add the river's current on top of a few hours of charging like that, and the range math starts getting interesting.

The Route, the Rapids, and the Night Problem

Planning the run surfaced the complications. The navigation app flatly warns that parts of the route are not navigable, which the crew chose to read as encouragement. There are warning signs along the upper river, class 2 rapids to survive with a deck full of panels and cable, and the realization that half the trip happens in darkness, on a river with traffic.

The fixes are pure Part 1 problem solving. The power outlet moves up to the seat using the relocation kit, and the 360 light goes way up high for night running. Then the logistics land: water, provisions, and everything else needed to spend 24 hours on a kayak. The video ends with the scale of it sinking in and the boat still, in Jason's words, a beautiful butterfly in its larval form: a giant jumble of parts that has to become a river runner by tomorrow morning.

What Parts 2 and 3 Have to Answer

Part 1 proves the concept on land: the panels mount, the wiring works, and the system makes real power. It does not answer the actual question, which is how far the thing can go.

Still open: whether the build survives the class 2 water on the upper American, how much energy a full day of sun actually delivers, whether the night stretch goes smoothly, and where the run ends. The data log will tell the story, and Jason plans to bring those numbers back to the stock boat afterward so owners can see what solar adds, and what it does not.

Solar Build FAQs

Is the solar setup a FluxJet product I can buy?

No. This is a one-off experiment built in 24 hours from parts already in the shop. The point is to learn what solar can add to the kayak, with everything data logged.

How much power did the panels make?

About 150 watts in the first outdoor test, in mid-afternoon sun with the panels lying flat. Tilting the panels toward the sun on the articulating mounts should improve on that during the run.

What battery does the solar kayak use?

A 36-volt battery. The panel pairs are wired in series for 24 volts and run in parallel, keeping the solar voltage below the battery voltage as this charge controller requires.

How far is Jason trying to go?

The run starts below the dam at Lake Natoma, follows the American River down to the Sacramento River, and keeps going downriver for up to 24 hours. A 120-mile day is the number being thrown around in the shop. Whether that is realistic is what the run will find out.

When do Parts 2 and 3 come out?

They follow the run itself: the river attempt and the results. Subscribe to the FluxJet channel so you do not miss them.