To be completely off
oil is unrealistic, unless you have all the time in the world.
Our preliminary test results show that sailing and limited motoring can be done with out the help of fossil
fuel. However on longer voyages with the possible no
wind conditions along the trip a
emergency generator can be useful. Depending on how much
solar power is installed, in case of our testing
FastCat 1800 watt Peak the use of this
emergency generator can be minimal.
In the next 2/3 months we will find out if this generator is really needed while sailing
Green eMotion to
Europe from Durban via
Cape Town, Cape Verdi Islands a trip of 10.000 NM. we will keep an exact log and the
diesel fuel on board will be measured both in the beginning and the finish of this trip.
If we find out that none or almost no diesel fuel is used (
cooking is also done electric )
we can save another 500 kilo or 1100 lbs by not putting a gen set in and leaving the fuel out.
I expect the generator will only be used during the
passage thru the doldrums if at all.