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The picture of the photovoltaic deck led me to a page describing a catamaran powered exclusively by 512 square meters of solar panels: http://www.planetsolar.o

The picture of the photovoltaic deck led me to a page describing a catamaran powered exclusively by 512 square meters of solar panels: http://www.planetsolar.org/boat/sections/the_boat http://www.planetsolar.org/boat/sections/the_boat

adwf 11y ago
Yeah, it's very cool! Sadly it doesn't seem to have great performance for a multihull. The spec sheet says 14kn top speed and 5kn average, which is rather poor for a 115' cat! A sailing cat of that size should be able to get 15-16 knots running and even more on a reach. An average speed of 7-8 is not unheard of even for 40-50' cats, let alone twice that. Must be very heavy in the water. I've read of a number of sailboat people who've replaced their old diesels with electric motor/solar panel combos and done quite well out of it. Whilst, for example, a motor can do 8kw at top speed, you usually only cruise at 3kw in and out of harbour and use the sails for the rest. Fitting enough solar for that is very doable on even a modestly sized boat. Then you can use batteries for any prolonged becalmings.
- phkahler 11y ago
  I worked for a company that did a cat electrification project circa 2008. 90ft mast 1300 sq feet of living space. Replaced a diesel in each hull with 16kw motor, inverter, and batteries. Main diesel generator remained but was only for backup. You could run the props as generators while under sail for a cost of 1/2 knot you could run all electric loads including air conditioning while charging the batteries. I guess solar could be useful at the dock...
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    I'm purchasing a cat for a circumnavigation. Where could I have such a conversion done?
    - phkahler 11y ago
      >> I'm purchasing a cat for a circumnavigation. Where could I have such a conversion done? That company does not exist any more - it got bought and ultimately disbanded. The boat did cross the Atlantic BTW and IIRC used no fuel to do so. I always thought it was a really good use of the technology. There are independents and small companies out there that can do that type of work - search for electric aircraft projects and find the people behind those. For a single boat you'll want an industrial drives and controls guy who can also deal with the battery and system issues.
      - toomuchtodo 11y ago
        Thanks! I'm pretty familiar with energy management, having designed stand-alone power systems (renewables + inverters + battery storage + generators) previously. I may give it a go alone, but I'll definitely start looking for the folks you mentioned if (most likely, when) I get stuck. Thank you for taking the time to reply; I really appreciate it!
danielvf 11y ago
The boat is for sale, now that the expedition has ended. (photo: http://www.planetsolar.org/kcfinder/upload/images/Photoblog/04092014/_DSC9482.jpg http://www.planetsolar.org/kcfinder/upload/images/Photoblog/... )
PhantomGremlin 11y ago
The most interesting thing to me is the picture of they guy on the deck of the boat (from the article). What is the material used to cover the solar cells? It must be tough enough to survive salt water and people walking on it. And yet it must allow most of the light thru. Maybe it's a very newbie question to materials people. But it's interesting to me. My mental image of solar cells is they're more fragile than that.

adwf 11y ago

Yeah, it's very cool! Sadly it doesn't seem to have great performance for a multihull. The spec sheet says 14kn top speed and 5kn average, which is rather poor for a 115' cat! A sailing cat of that size should be able to get 15-16 knots running and even more on a reach. An average speed of 7-8 is not unheard of even for 40-50' cats, let alone twice that. Must be very heavy in the water. I've read of a number of sailboat people who've replaced their old diesels with electric motor/solar panel combos and done quite well out of it. Whilst, for example, a motor can do 8kw at top speed, you usually only cruise at 3kw in and out of harbour and use the sails for the rest. Fitting enough solar for that is very doable on even a modestly sized boat. Then you can use batteries for any prolonged becalmings.

phkahler 11y ago
I worked for a company that did a cat electrification project circa 2008. 90ft mast 1300 sq feet of living space. Replaced a diesel in each hull with 16kw motor, inverter, and batteries. Main diesel generator remained but was only for backup. You could run the props as generators while under sail for a cost of 1/2 knot you could run all electric loads including air conditioning while charging the batteries. I guess solar could be useful at the dock...
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  I'm purchasing a cat for a circumnavigation. Where could I have such a conversion done?
  - phkahler 11y ago
    >> I'm purchasing a cat for a circumnavigation. Where could I have such a conversion done? That company does not exist any more - it got bought and ultimately disbanded. The boat did cross the Atlantic BTW and IIRC used no fuel to do so. I always thought it was a really good use of the technology. There are independents and small companies out there that can do that type of work - search for electric aircraft projects and find the people behind those. For a single boat you'll want an industrial drives and controls guy who can also deal with the battery and system issues.
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      Thanks! I'm pretty familiar with energy management, having designed stand-alone power systems (renewables + inverters + battery storage + generators) previously. I may give it a go alone, but I'll definitely start looking for the folks you mentioned if (most likely, when) I get stuck. Thank you for taking the time to reply; I really appreciate it!

danielvf 11y ago

The boat is for sale, now that the expedition has ended. (photo: http://www.planetsolar.org/kcfinder/upload/images/Photoblog/04092014/_DSC9482.jpg http://www.planetsolar.org/kcfinder/upload/images/Photoblog/... )

PhantomGremlin 11y ago

The most interesting thing to me is the picture of they guy on the deck of the boat (from the article). What is the material used to cover the solar cells? It must be tough enough to survive salt water and people walking on it. And yet it must allow most of the light thru. Maybe it's a very newbie question to materials people. But it's interesting to me. My mental image of solar cells is they're more fragile than that.