Power give me power

If you haven't read the post "My impossible mission" in the boat design forum, than a quick summary is I'm trying to create a mid-sized yacht that uses renewable energy to power its auxiliary systems as well as perform some other undisclosed functions.
What I would like to ask the posters of this forum is how much power do each individual electronic system use?
Electrical power for nav lights? Radar? Sonar? Crane on fishing boats with nets? Desalinator? Etc.?

What other systems am I missing?
I hate to be the demanding type, but don't take offense at the tone of this post it just reflects my multi-shifting mood, and I'm asking quite desperately so don't hesitate to post or reply.
DIM

 

i cannot imagine that there is any source of renewable energie on a ship which would provide enough power to support a crane with considerable load on it....
unless you think of one of those big windgenerators working in the MegaWatt region you find on windfarms everywhere nowadays...

 

Okay so the crane is out until further notice, but the other systems how much power do they use?

 

Not much.

Or lets say, not too much.


But of course enough to make it another "impossible mission"....................

 

Not really, you could just power the lights using stored power from the day, continuous use of any appliance would be also supported by the wind of motion, and maybe the excess energy from the motor. But, to determine its feasibility I need to know what systems I need to power, and not being a boat designer with experience, I could use the input of you guys who have knowledge creating boats. Like what types of systems are found commonly on vessels? How much power do they need?

Basically, what components do you use on your boat designs? what brand and type of lights? So on.

DIM

 

If a modern sailing vessel you need about 2200 calories per day per sailor and 1 dry cloth to clean the sextant. 1 watch battery for the chronometer, and 2 eyeballs for finding stars.

Short of that you really dont need anything else.

Captain Cook used a wind up chronometer and his crew had about 1800 calories per sailor per day.

K9

 

Modern electronics require very little power. My watch runs on its own solar cell contained in the face. My GPS uses maybe 10mA and logs my heart rate and RPM as well.

Modern LED lights are very efficient. A 5W light is enough to easily read with. Nav lights each about the same or even less.

Water makers are a bit more power intensive but they are cheaper than carrying water long range. Depends on how often you shower. Heating water takes a lot of energy - do you like cold showers?

Freezers take quite a lot of power unless they are a tiny, well insulated space. Coolers are not so power hungry. Do you like dried food?

Bilge pumps can use a bit of power if you ship water by various means.

Autopilots are a constant drain and can use quite a lot of power if set too aggressively.

Cooking requires a bit of power but a microwave is quite fast and efficient. I think this is better than carrying gas or other heating fuel.

If you venture into cold climates then heating will take a lot of energy. Nothing like a warm engine room on a cold night.

A crane will only take power for a short time. It depends on how often it is being operated.

Modern life provides all these little necessities so readily that we have forgotten the value of human power. Most carry around more fat than they need. Could use a little of it on some physical tasks.

Rick W

 

every piece of electronical equipement has its Watt mentioned somewhere...
W = V*A so you just have to accumulate all Watts given divied it by the Voltage your onboard curcuit is running on and you'll have an idea of how much A are taken from the batteries per hour....

on the other hand you will have your solar-panels and generators - be it wind or towing or both or whatever - and calculate how much W and thererfore A those would give you back per hour...
its a quite simple and straightforward calculation

what you need - i mean REALLY need - on a sailing yacht during the night where the energie consumption might be higher:
nav-lights, GPS, radio
everthing else is nice-to-have but there is no 'need' for it.... even radio is not really a necessity and if you keep your eyes out, there might not even be a need for the nav-lights - at least far out in the ocean with no ship-traffic around...

but be prepared to drink warm beer, take cold showers and porbably freeze your *** off while standing at the helm the whole night...

 

What I'm trying to ask is what specific component names are used, so
I can calculate the total power I need to generate?

I need to work out how much space I should allocate to the battery and how much for the fuel tank.

 

I think you need to start with your list of equipment, then determine which model you want for each of those items, then look at the data sheets for each model to determine its power requirements.

Three different bilge pumps for instance would each have different power demands, so you need to start at the beginning with a complete list of your specific equipment.

Tony

 

You may want to hit a boat electrics book here my friend as you're going to

get as many different answers as there are people on this forum. You're in

a bit of a spot because you're trying to generalize about a boat or ship's

electrical needs and it depends on the boat and it's use, condition, operator,

crew, weather, time of day, wind direction, sea state, line losses, etc, etc,

etc. Get my point? I think you may be "barking up the wrong tree" by

asking here.

My answer to your question of how much power: 10 % more than what's

actually needed.

Tom

 

I try, Tom I try. I found journals relating to optimal tilt of solar panels and engine types, etc. but I still got a lot of work to do. I can't seem to find a Nigel Calder Book though.

 

Keep trying DIM1

-Tom