Hybrid Electric Boat Project Nears Completion -- In Association with eLearn-university.org

(PRWeb) March 2, 2007 -- This rather unusual project to fit a petrol power boat with auxiliary electric drive motors and a significant solar panel array to recharge its dedicated battery bank, nears completion. With ever more attention on fuel efficiency and environmental concerns, projects of this kind are likely to become ever more prevalent.

The owner of this particular boat lives aboard and is more than a little fond of DIY and tinkering. Over the last few years the project has begun to take shape and is now in the final stages of development.

There are ten 30 watt solar panels, eight 62 watt panels, two wind turbines involved with the charging system integrated into the boat. On top of all that an auxiliary 2.8 kva petrol generator has been installed. If all that fails, the main V8 engines can still be started and operated because all of the electric motoring components are separated from the drive system by an electro-magnetic clutch.

The practical realities of living onboard are further enhanced by the magnificent renewal energy systems which can also power the fridge freezer, hot water, satellite tv, hi fi etc. So while the project has stripped the owner of most of his salary for the past year or so, when it's finished he will be able to drift about to his hearts content without the need of expensive marina's for his electricity. Combined with a fun choice of fast (engines) or slow (renewable low energy propulsion) motoring, the boat will enable a very versatile experience that suits many instances from deep sea to river or canal cruising.

Because of the limited size of the boat, just 34 feet long overall, there is no way to currently gain all of the power needed to run the electric motors from sunshine alone, hence the wind turbines and additional generator. At this stage in the development, the system is undergoing final adjustments in terms of the electric drive gearing, also the primary solar roof is not yet revealed because it's not yet water tight. As always, money is an issue, the owner having parted company with his job over Christmas is having to hold back on some of the finishing touches of this very interesting and compelling project.

The functionality of the dwelling environment of this potentially unique project can be applied to many home circumstances, both mobile and static. If you support the use of environmental self-sufficiency energy production, perhaps you might want to keep tabs on this project.

The application of the design of belt driven electric propulsion systems connected by controlled electro-magnetic clutches is certainly adoptable by many styles of shaft driven vehicles that need to maintain the integrity of original propulsion systems. The simplicity of the design and the detail of the reporting within the web pages dedicated to the project (see link below) enables virtually any machine shop and electrical integrator to adopt the principles and re-create the system for their own purposes.

The owner of this particular boat and the associated engineering shop who have helped to build this system may be contacted via elearn-university.org to assist, manage or build systems for interested patrons. Simply visit the link provided below and find the 'contact-us' tab at the bottom of the presented page.

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