Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris

wrote in message
ups.com...

Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris


The specs say two motors using 8kw each for 16kw total and two 5kw
arrays producing 10kw total.

So they're producing less power than they use. Hmmmmm! I'd say they got
problems. Probably have a diesel generator tucked in one of the hulls.

Wilbur Hubbard

Does anyone with experience in the efficiency have insight in how well
a setup like this can work?

(Other than stating the obvious from the specs: Wilbur, 10 kW are 34
hp that would be pretty good, even 17 hp for 24 hr run time. Engine
specs would be peak power.)

I would like to know what countinous power output one could _really_
expect; with other words, were they cruising or drifting?

Thanks!


On Mar 26, 3:57 pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
wrote in message

ups.com...



Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris

The specs say two motors using 8kw each for 16kw total and two 5kw
arrays producing 10kw total.

So they're producing less power than they use. Hmmmmm! I'd say they got
problems. Probably have a diesel generator tucked in one of the hulls.

Wilbur Hubbard

what the heck do they do at night? LOL!

On Mar 27, 10:50 pm, wrote:
Does anyone with experience in the efficiency have insight in how well
a setup like this can work?

(Other than stating the obvious from the specs: Wilbur, 10 kW are 34
hp that would be pretty good, even 17 hp for 24 hr run time. Engine
specs would be peak power.)

I would like to know what countinous power output one could _really_
expect; with other words, were they cruising or drifting?

Thanks!

On Mar 26, 3:57 pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

wrote in message

oups.com...

Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris

The specs say two motors using 8kw each for 16kw total and two 5kw
arrays producing 10kw total.

So they're producing less power than they use. Hmmmmm! I'd say they got
problems. Probably have a diesel generator tucked in one of the hulls.

Wilbur Hubbard

"mandolin2k" wrote in message
oups.com...
what the heck do they do at night? LOL!

They claim they have a large battery bank for night time use. And they
claim they have enough output from the array to both charge the
batteries during the day and run the motors. The array output is only
10KW(max). The twin engines use 8KW each for a total of 16KW and if they
have to charge batteries too then it seems to we they lack sufficient
solar array for the job.

Something's fishy here.

Wilbur Hubbard


On Mar 27, 10:50 pm, wrote:
Does anyone with experience in the efficiency have insight in how
well
a setup like this can work?

(Other than stating the obvious from the specs: Wilbur, 10 kW are 34
hp that would be pretty good, even 17 hp for 24 hr run time. Engine
specs would be peak power.)

I would like to know what countinous power output one could _really_
expect; with other words, were they cruising or drifting?

Thanks!

On Mar 26, 3:57 pm, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

wrote in message

oups.com...

Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of
this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris

The specs say two motors using 8kw each for 16kw total and two 5kw
arrays producing 10kw total.

So they're producing less power than they use. Hmmmmm! I'd say they
got
problems. Probably have a diesel generator tucked in one of the
hulls.

Wilbur Hubbard

The max rating of the engines is not the point: IF the panels produced
10 kW for 12 hrs a day straight, and there was not much loss in
storage, they could run on 5 kW 24 hours, which is 8 hp, and could
work. (I guess...)

The question for the real solar experts was how much can one
realistically expect, i.e. how much do two 5 kW panels generate on a
real day in the real Atlantic, how much is left after storing in
batteries, etc....

Or maybe for the long distance cruisers: If you were adrift in this
area at this time of the year, would the prevailing winds blow you
over in the end?

Anyone?



?, On Mar 28, 9:22 am, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:
"mandolin2k" wrote in message

oups.com...

what the heck do they do at night? LOL!

They claim they have a large battery bank for night time use. And they
claim they have enough output from the array to both charge the
batteries during the day and run the motors. The array output is only
10KW(max). The twin engines use 8KW each for a total of 16KW and if they
have to charge batteries too then it seems to we they lack sufficient
solar array for the job.

Something's fishy here.

Wilbur Hubbard

wrote in message
ups.com...

Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris


Pretty cool, but I sure would think thrice about taking it offshore.

"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

wrote in message
ups.com...

Good day,

what do you guys (especially the solar cell experts) think of this
boat?

http://www.transatlantic21.org/

Chris


Pretty cool, but I sure would think thrice about taking it offshore.

Yes, catamarans like that one with a heavy load of solar panels on top
are more prone to turn turtle than a monohull. Since they're going
monohull speeds I have to wonder what's with the dangerous catamaran
configuration. Also, they need a way to tilt the array so it takes
advantage of the sun at all times. The way they have it now they only
get peak efficiency at or around local noon.

Wilbur Hubbard