Solar Electric Catamaran Model

[Ifitsworthdoing]

Originally Posted by stark

The issue is that a solar panel will not produce much electricity if even a small part of it is shaded. It has to do with the way the cells in the panel. are tied together. The mast shadow might be 2%, but the output of the whole panel might drop 90%. Maybe they'll figure this out in the future, but you'll probably just have more electricity overall by dropping the wind gen part

The latest silicon based crystalline solar panels are bifacial which improves both overall gain and also the impact of shading. The next step will be combo panels of silicon and Perovskite materials which exploit different frequencies of light and complement each other in their performance characteristics. This should bring insolation energy harvesting efficiency up to around 27 percent but will of course be quite expensive in the beginning. But in any case shadowing is no longer a true Achilles heel of solar panels ...

[jbinbi]

I have pointed out the line of solar motor yachts from Greenline. Their 40' semi displacement has a range of about 30 mi at 5 to 6kts.

I think in the next decade solar will improve its efficiency by 50 to 100%. I also think batteries will get this same efficiency and price drop.

This means that it will be possible to do 50 to 100 mi a day purely on battery, and be recharged daily on solar. A boater doing the great loop probably averages 8hrs at 6-8 kts. So an all electric with solar is easily within reach for these users. Don't know if it will be by 2025 or 2030, but coming soon. A sailboat with 100mi range @ 6kts covers many people as well.

[seandepagnier]

We can already do 100 mile range and recharge from solar, it really helps to have an efficient boat like a trimaran which also has the surface area needed for solar. monohulls and even catamarans have a disadvantage here.

I can sail the ICW at 6 knots without using any solar power and conditions for this are more than half the time, actually it is possible to sail much faster than 6 knots much of the time.

There are not enough known lithium reserves in the world for everyone to have more than about 50kwh of lithium battery storage. So people in rich countries sure seem entitled when they claim tesla electric car is a solution or these huge heavy inefficient boats with a 30 mile range on solar is as well an injustice because they are claiming more than their share of the worlds resources. Especially when the lithium is mostly in south america, it should probably be more available to people there than here.

Really it makes more sense to go offshore if you care about speed, and having a requirement to motor at 6 knots on the ICW makes little sense for the efficient use of energy.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

This is a 10kw system.

The rotor is 20 ft tall, and the blades 19ft diameter.

Runs at 3 to 40 knots.

Very comparable to sail area, and works omnidirectional.

Weighs 1,500 lbs, and is 96% efficient.

That's a fair amount of weight on top of a boat, but maybe doable with a medium motor cat.

Without contra-rotating turbines the gyroscopic effects are extreme in any significant seastate.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by BillKny

Name ONE.

https://youtu.be/IzGCYaJbf0A

Here you go...