I want an electric Hydro-cycle!

[alan white]

Originally Posted by tinhorn

Couldn't you extend your battery charge by connecting narrow sidewheels to a generator? They could be hidden in the sides, or you could even mount one in the middle of the boat, hidden from view. I can't imagine the power loss to turn a generator or alternator would be that great.

The power loss would be exactly equal to the energy required to turn the side wheels AND create some useless heat...

Whatever energy is needed to recharge batteries, it will be measured in watt hours or kilowatt hours (often called kilowatts). The quantity of KWh of recharge will be equal to the KWh of battery depletion (convertable to ampere hour (AH) in battery charge condition by dividing the wattage by battery voltage).
Hence a wind generator would work when the boat sits out beteen uses. Also, if moored on a river, a water wheel would spin as effected by the river current if the boat were anchored or moored in the current. This is the ultimate in free energy because it takes no time even with a small generator to capture a lot of energy.

Alan

[tinhorn]

No kidding? I was afraid it might be unworkable. I know that the guy who suggested a wind turbine on the roof of his car got laughed at, and I think people still point fingers at him and whisper.

[Rick Willoughby]

My project is a boat for coastal cruising in retirement. I sold my last yacht 16 years ago realising none of my sons found sailing of much interest.

Over the last 5 years I have been working on hull designs to understand efficient hulls. I started using pedal boats as they get me into the water and at my age you need to have an efficient drive system to get good results. So now I know a lot more about efficient prop design and hull drag.

I am aiming for my coastal cruiser to be completely energy autonomous collecting energy from solar panels and wind generator.

Rick W.

[sparky_wap]

Rick,

Not sure if its true but here is what I've been told... Modern solar-electric panels require more energy to manufacture then they will produce in their averge lifetime. Seems to make sense to me based on the techology.

Ever notice that large scale commercial sun farms use mirrors concentrated on a point to heat up sodium? to make steam. Steam to turbine to electricity is then the standard power plant technology.

Solar panels really shine (get it) to provide power to isolated areas ... like a boat in the ocean. I don't know if they are actually 'green'.

Would it make more sense to use a small IC engine to suppliment the wind??? For me the answer is easy, return home on oars if necessary and plug back into the grid. Out off the coast, I would like to have at least two sources of power. Keep a small generator just in case. Wind energy? On a sailboat?

I see the replicas of the Jamsetown Ships sail by frequently and realize the were far better sailors than I care to be.


Joe

[Rick Willoughby]

Originally Posted by sparky_wap

Rick,

Not sure if its true but here is what I've been told... Modern solar-electric panels require more energy to manufacture then they will produce in their averge lifetime. Seems to make sense to me based on the techology.

....................


Joe

Joe
Could be so. AUD10k (cost of my solar panels) will buy you about 100t of coal at today's prices. Then I would need to store it somewhere - that will cost money. Hope that the authorities don't ban its use without expensive scrubbing technology. It will be messy to transport. Will have to wait for the boiler to get hot before I can travel. Will need to use it to generate electricity for other uses on board - so more losses there. I will have limited range before need to rebunker. It will be black, smelly and dusty.

Weighing up the plusses and minuses I think I will stick with solar panels that I buy this year or next and hope to get 10 years reliable performance.

On the other hand, if you look at household solar systems now they are economic so, if they cost more energy to make than they produce, there must be a lot of middle men raking off the existing power supply system to push prices well above the basic cost of the energy - middle men get you every time. I cannot see this abating.

The latest iteration of my hull is shown here:
http://boatdesign.net/forums/attachm...4&d=1203412898
The boat it 12m long and will displace around 1100kg.

Rick W.

[sigurd]

Rick, are you going to use air cooling, how?