Turning the lifeboat electric – Solar Power for down-river cruising

One of the big experiments with the new #BoatingEurope lifeboat is to see how far we can move towards electric propulsion using solar power. The aim isn’t to build a high-speed electric boat, this is a slow, down-river cruising boat, where we can take advantage of the river current, travel at relatively low speeds and use solar energy for much of the everyday electrical demand. The basic idea is simple – lots of solar + a decent battery bank + efficient electric pod motors = slow cruising without running the diesel engine most of the time. It is an experiment, and we are trying to do it without spending ridiculous amounts of money. Two solar systems The boat currently has two separate solar systems. 800W solar at 48V for the main propulsion and high-power kitchen electrical system600W solar at 24V for the house electrical system The 48V system is the interesting one because it will eventually feed the electric propulsion system as well as the 48V 6.5K inverter. We are deliberately…