/sci/ - Science & Math

Our approach would be novel in that rather than using a support bouy, oxygen would come from very thin silicone membranes which would fold out into the water like solar panels, but for the purpose of extracting oxygen from seawater. They do this naturally with no need for electricity, you just need a lot of surface area (several square yards) to support a person.

This would be supplemented by aquaculture; each habitat would have a small wheatgrass and algae garden that would help process waste as well as produce oxygen. This would have a moderating effect; the homes situated around the shared oxygen production plant would not rely entirely on either one. If some wheatgrass dies or one of the 'panels's is damaged, nobody dies in other words.

>>1922766

I'd say go for it. Realize, though, that it won't be the same as Hampture. Similar, but magnitudes more complex.

However, I do admire the fact that you realize the inherent complexity of such a task.

Best of luck, and godspeed.

dude... sorry but its already been done

sorry to make a fool out of you

We'd start with rigid bodied homes; converted from water storage tanks and mounted on boat trailers for portability. Each would have a moon pool at the far end, sealed off from the rest of the interior (to prevent the spread of humid air) by a transparent plastic shower curtain. Fold-down legs at either side would bear the weights, ballast tanks and mounts for backup air tanks. These legs would suspend the body of the habitat about four feet off the ocean floor so that one can swim in from underneath.

>>1922809

>>Realize, though, that it won't be the same as Hampture. Similar, but magnitudes more complex.

That depends entirely on what type of habitat you're building. Is it surface pressure or ambient pressure? Are you going to try to actively remove CO2 or constantly brute-force replenish the atmosphere? The latter approach keeps shit simple but I'll probably add a sodasorb filter anyways as CO2 buildup is a "better safe than sorry" type of thing.

I was discouraged by the cost of even small, one man submersibles (hundreds of thousands of dollars) until I discovered this thing. Simple concept but dirt cheap for a barebones personal sub: $7,500. Keeps your head dry, any idiot can drive one and it cean easily do the legally required 4 mile round trip to shore and back on a single charge. This or something very much like it will be analogous to a car for those living in coastal waters.

>>1922766

If I had the money, I would love to fund some of these ideas of yours, for the novelty if nothing else.

>>1922847

you would get crushed if you lived to far underwater

>>1922850

That's a hotel. It costs $15,000 per person, per week, and only two days of that week are spent in the underwater portion.

Based on the cost of one of the modules being built as part of the Atlantica Expeditions we've been told that a single family unit of that type could be mass produced for $35,000 with a decent profit margin.

>>1922861

>>you would get crushed if you lived to far underwater

Yes, but people don't want to live very deep. Or won't, rather. Because it's cold, dark and nearly lifeless down there.

People will want to live in the upper layers of the daylight zone, perhaps 30-90 feet deep, because the water's warm, there's plentiful biomass (crabs, fish, etc.) and the beautiful radiant blue glow creates a view that would tempt even hydrophobics to buy our product.

It's seriously pretty down there. Pic related, it's 60 feet deep.

Dad seem convinced that people indigenous to islands that will be consumed by rising tides in coming decades would rather buy these home than move somewhere else. I wasn't feeling that. I'm a bit of a cynic and only really commit to ideas when the cost/benefit analysis obviously works out.

The reason people will want to live underwater is a lot simpler. Coastal land is absurdly expensive. That's before you develop it and build anything there. The reason's simple. Everyone wants the coastal lifestyle, but there's not enough coast, not an equatorial latitudes.

However, go about two miles out, and the land is free. Nobody owns it, and no law prevents anyone from living there. $150k for a tiny beachside condo? $250k? $350k? Fuck that. $35k for something the size of an upscale winnebago, sunk about 40 feet down, two miles offshore. You can swim, you can surf, you can realistically live off of what you catch, and you have quick access to the coastal night life. For $35k.

That's when it started making a fuckton of sense to me.

I wonder if you lived in a moderate depth if you could have submerged solar panels provide power.

Unfortunately you're still bound by US law. You have to go about 12 miles away from shore before you're in libertarian lala land. And I expect you'd see a lot of casinos, brothels and whathaveyou operating just a hair over 12 miles from shore, using a ton of these things linked together.

Not really my concern though.

>>1922944
>>I wonder if you lived in a moderate depth if you could have submerged solar panels provide power.

Only problem with that is hurricanes. My solution is to build the solar panels into an autonomous support bouy that's watertight. It floats on the surface and compresses air (surplus is stored in external tanks along the outside) but when a storm's coming you can blow ballast tanks on the underside and gently sink it. Then when the storm passes you send it back up to the surface.

The main reason you'd want one is to supplement air production and to keep the batteries charged. Really, the bouy is likely to be the cheapest part of each habitat.

The habitats can only be mobile home sized as they need to be truck-towable and deployable via boatramps. Anything bigger requires the use of chartered crane ships and costs start to get insane.

As I expect underwater communities would want shared space, parks, communal areas with more elbow room to spend their spare time I've also devised a soft-shelled dome structure inspired by this novelty; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phj3lLEtWlk

A much larger version with a ballasted platform to anchor it to (and a floor raised above the water line) could carve out a large livable space underwater much more cheaply than a hard shelled structure of equivalent interior volume and when deflated/dismantled it could be towed by truck, same as the standard family habitat.

>>1922766
>engineer
>famous

LMAO, there are no famous engineers but Tesla. And he is only famous becuase he was a homosexual, and one of the first supporters of gay rights.

>>1922766
>engineer

Have you always been such an underachiever?

>>1922766
>>1922766
You call yourself "mad scientist", yet you want to do engineering? WTF is up with that? do you not know the difference between a scienist and engineer?

inb4 DURRR, well an engineer uses science sometimes, so he is a scientist. If that were fucking true, then a fast food worker would be a mathematican.

>>1922766
Take your homosexual thread to /cm/ or /y/

>>1922766
>engineering expertise

Im sure if you ask nice enough your dad will teach you to suck cocks as well

This is more or less what I had in mind for the shared spaces. As you can see it's raised/lowered via ballast tanks and the transparent flexible membrane is held down by high tensile steel cable.

>>1923002
>>1923019
>>1923026
>>1923044
What up, /sci/? Can you explain why you hate engies? I am a scientist and sympathise, but do we hate them for the same reason?

Explain please.

Decompression would be problematic. You might have idiots who head straight to the surface and need to be treated for the bends. But that'd all be in the disclaimer and the "how not to die underwater" manual DVD the habitat would come with.

I am concerned that there'd be a certain stigma attached to these. You'd have a lot of wealthy people living on valuable coastal land resenting the fact that what are essentially undersea trailer parks have sprung up a few miles offshore. But the rich have a habit of emulating the poor. Sushi was once a favorite food of poor dock workers. Fois gras was also a staple food of those who farmed poultry as they couldn't spare the meat. Same with caviar and so on. I expect ultimately you'd see the wealthy start to move undersea alongside the early adopters in larger, more permanent submerged structures, more or less just to flaunt their wealth. Which is fine. Business as usual.

For law enforcement you'd want something that could easily outrun those one-person bubble scooters. Something like this would do the trick. If you were pulling some stupid shit, vandalizing coral reefs, driving around nude, whatever, they could pull you over and get your info. Radio would work fine as both the cops and the driver would have their heads inside an air-filled chamber so verbal communication would be possible. The vehicle ID would be recorded and you'd get a ticket via email to be paid online.

Live 12 miles out however and none of this would apply. But you're also liable to be robbed by unscrupulous divers.

>>1923088
/sci/ does not hate homosexuals. As scientists we are tolerant the "engineer", and we dont make fun of his obvious learning abilities

>>1923116
>disabilities

>>1923088

Because there's no quick return to the surface on account of nitrogen saturation you'd have to offer all the same things to a seafloor community that they can get topside. The flexible dome structure could be a school, a modest doctor's practice, a shop, just about anything you couldn't run out of one of the standard family habitats.

>>1923116
No seriously, this gay engineer meme wasn't around 1.5 years ago. How'd it start?

bad idea. dumb idea. harmful idea. how do you plan on getting electricity to these things. how do you plan on getting people to go to their jobs in the city everyday from these things. wheres the septic tank, wheres the clean water.

what you want to do is pollute the last refuge of life. the ocean. for the sake of realty. the moral and practical reasons aren't why this won't be a reality though, op. here's the ultimate reason why this is a bad idea.

it's not. cost. effective.

maybe when every list little bit of land in the world has been gobbled up, people will be forced. but that's not going to happen any time soon. people are more likely to just start urbanizing suburbs, congesting houses with more people, and expanding upwards by adding stories to houses, i.e., exactly what's going on in japan.

now go fuck a seahorse

Dennis Chamberland has similar aspirations but he hopes to build the colony with sponsor money and then invite people to come live in it. Mass production and offering people the ability to own their own habitat will speed up the homesteading movement considerably.

TL:DR
Engineer > All
So up yours!

>>1923133
its a bunch of art school betas jelly that engineers actually get paid

YES AND MAKE IT COST SO MUCH THAT THE NORMAL PERSON CAN'T GET ONE!

Fuck you.

>>1923133
are you new?
it has been around since the board started.
It really isnt a meme though, its a fact. If you go to any engineering department at any university you will see why they call engineers faggots.

>>1923145
NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR SHITTY SEA LAB! TAKE YOUR HOMOSEXUAL FAIL TO /Y/!

I hope you fucking drown

>>1923168
I was here since 2005. Anyway, I know everyone thinks they are faggots. I'm not sure if "they", me, and /sci/ think they are faggots for the same reasons. I'm sure you appreciate engineers are faggots because of a great many reasons. I want to know which ones /sci/ picked.

>>1923139

>>bad idea. dumb idea. harmful idea.

I expect to hear this a lot.

>>how do you plan on getting electricity to these things.

See: >>1922970

>>how do you plan on getting people to go to their jobs in the city everyday from these things.

Initially they'll be in shallow water and used as vacation homes. By the time there are whole communities of them, opportunists will create a local undersea economy and people can both live and work without ever surfacing.

>>wheres the septic tank, wheres the clean water.

Waste is handled via composting toilet, which assists in fertilizing the algae and wheatgrass aquaculture.

>>what you want to do is pollute the last refuge of life. the ocean. for the sake of realty.

Quite the opposite. Undersea habitats become artificial coral reefs at such a quick pace that aquanauts must continually scrape off new growth. It's why we deliberately sink decommissioned ships. Coral fucking loves growing on them for whatever reason and they have a tremendously beneficial effect on the reef ecosystem.

>>it's not. cost. effective.

Compared to what? An inland house? At $150,000?

>>maybe when every list little bit of land in the world has been gobbled up, people will be forced.

Actually you're right about this. Overpopulation is not why people will live undersea. It's not even a pressing problem in developed nations. And if it were people would sooner live on seasteads, like the one in the photo.

No, people will live underwater because of cheap access to the coast (and the coastal lifestyle) access to food that would otherwise be reserved for the very wealthy, and for the natural beauty. They will do it because it's a way to have a home that impresses others while costing a fraction of an inland home that would offer comparable status. People will live in the sea for lots of reasons, but lack of land is not one of them.

>>1923127
You are getting ahead of yourself. Too costly, and any structure would have to be way more comfortable than what you would be content with. These are Americans, not Asians. There is too much work involved with the transportation of these people to land. They cannot fit groceries or anything in those cheaper suits with convenience, so you would have to have a grocery store, clothing store, work stations, all underwater (or some sort of public bus). Your idea of using the bare minimum to create a product and then expecting it to work at all is silly.

>>1923168
not the guy you're replying to but been here since creation of sci
gay engineer meme wasn't always around
people were too busy trying to decide of a mascot for /sci/ and stupid shit

>>1923178
they are "faggots" becuase they are men who like to have sex with men....DURRRRR

>>1923184
you can't live on the fucking coast. shallow water is extremely unstable for a foundation of any sort.

and you WILL pollute. how the fuck are you going to build these things? are you just going to make them appear out of thin and air and plop em into the ocean? the simple act of making these things will not only hurt the ecosystem, but it will hurt the environment.

then again what do i know. i know that a composting toilet sounds smelly and slow as fuck though. and i know you sure as hell aren't going to get mail, or garbage pick up if you live under the damn sea.

Right the fuck on, OP. That is all.

>>1923187

>>You are getting ahead of yourself. Too costly, and any structure would have to be way more comfortable than what you would be content with.

Actually the soft shelled dome would probably be cheaper than a family habitat. It clears out a larger volume using less (and cheaper) materials.

>>These are Americans, not Asians. There is too much work involved with the transportation of these people to land. They cannot fit groceries or anything in those cheaper suits with convenience, so you would have to have a grocery store, clothing store, work stations, all underwater (or some sort of public bus).

See that thing in the picture? It's a watertight suitcase. Weighted such that it's neutrally buoyant and rated for 100 feet deep. Add a few hardpoints on the side of the scooter where you attach these, and you can haul groceries around pretty easy.

Keep in mind, you're surrounded by free food. There wouldn't be much you'd need from the grocery store to begin with.

>>Your idea of using the bare minimum to create a product and then expecting it to work at all is silly.

On the contrary, the simplicity of the design will make it affordable and no less safe. It won't be as energy efficient as a result but as the power comes from solar that's not a serious concern. If people want more luxurious diggs, they can gradually upgrade their habitat. I'm selling livable space here, not a completely furnished home.

>>1923201
i will ad an addendum, you did point out that it could be used in potentially making artificial reefs. the thing is, with all the activity you're talking about introducing underwater at the grandiose scale you're thinking of, it would be naive to think that the local sea life would not be affected, at least partially in an adverse way. it just feels like, to me, you're saying "we're gonna build a sky scraper in yellow stone park. but it's ok because birds have been scientifically proven to love making nests on sky scraper windows."

>>1923201

>>you can't live on the fucking coast. shallow water is extremely unstable for a foundation of any sort.

Which is why the fold-down "legs" have spike anchors that will be driven into the sand by the weight of the ballast.

>>and you WILL pollute. how the fuck are you going to build these things? are you just going to make them appear out of thin and air and plop em into the ocean? the simple act of making these things will not only hurt the ecosystem, but it will hurt the environment.

Everything pollutes. Breathing pollutes. Shitting pollutes. We can't stop living entirely just because it pollutes. The idea is to keep pollution down to a manageable level that permits progress and won't kill us. As these habitats are made from repurposed water tanks bought secondhand, tanks that would otherwise be thrown out, we're actually extending their useful lifespan. The second 'R' in reduce, reuse and recycle.

>>then again what do i know. i know that a composting toilet sounds smelly and slow as fuck though.

They are, it's why you keep them by the moon pool, behind the plastic curtain that keeps humid air from spreading. That's what every modern habitat does to manage both the humidity and the smell and it works fine.

>>and i know you sure as hell aren't going to get mail, or garbage pick up if you live under the damn sea.

What trash would you produce? You'd be either catching your own fresh seafood or buying some that divers caught for you. The only waste would be bones, crustacean shells, things like that which readily biodegrade.

>>1923226

>>it just feels like, to me, you're saying "we're gonna build a sky scraper in yellow stone park. but it's ok because birds have been scientifically proven to love making nests on sky scraper windows."

The construction of a skyscraper would have an adverse effect on Yellowstone because you'd need to dig up a great deal of land to produce a level, anchored foundation. You'd need to bring in large, polluting vehicles and a crane to assist in construction and thousands of construction workers who would doubtless litter and shit up the place.

These habitats would be produced in a factory. On land. And then sunk from the surface. No, they aren't magicked into existence with fairy dust and their manufacture incurs an environmental cost, but not on the ocean. From the seafloor's perspective, they actually do seem to fall out of the 'sky'. With solar power and the manner of waste management this would actually be one of the 'greener' ways you could conceivably live.

I am liking this idea.

Sign me up for one... I need a place to keep my lolies.

>>1923266

Keep that shit 12.5 miles from shore and it's nobody's business but yours what goes on inside. I'm going to have to make very sure that I manage the legalese such that I'm inarguably not liable for what people do with (and in) these habitats however. That much is clear.

>>1923271
Its illegal for a us citizen to have sex anywhere with someone under 16 years old. But just don't get caught seems works most of the time.

>>1923279

Like I said, none of my business what people would use these for. I imagine all kinds of shady characters would use them to hide out though.

Pic related, the kind of elbow room you could realistically expect.

Such a horrible idea. You couldn't bring ANYTHING in these things. Table broken? Sorry, it's impossible to get another one inside.

>>1923291
Why would a loli slave need a table?

>>1923284
Slight mistake in wording there buddy. let me fix it:

It's precisely the heart of your business what people use this for. That's where the money comes from, brosef.

I wonder how many drug smugglers use submarines.

>>1923291

>>Sorry, it's impossible to get another one inside.

Because folding tables don't exist?

>>1923305

>>I wonder how many drug smugglers use submarines.

That might become problematic. You'd have a lot of people buying these to use as covert grow ops and drug dens.

>>1923314
You're a fucking dipshit. I was talking about general furniture. If you start selling your faggot houses I'll make sure to drive around and steal the faggot submarines.

sorry tl;dr, how do you get stuff into the house?

>>1923317
my loli den will be hidden from divers

>>1923324
>>1923317

Most of it would be integrated into the structure, the way it is in an RV.

how do you get a replacement for things that break?

>>1923339
you make them out of whale bones

>>1923339

I sell them to you. :3

>>1923339
you bag a fresh loli, put her in a suit case and bring her down.

>>1923353

It'd be cool if I could have one thread that stayed on topic and did not eventually become about sexual deviance.

>wheres the septic tank

just providing some info...the Aquarius research habitat in the FL Keys has their inhabitants do their business in the ocean. and no i am not making that up.

>>1923486
Try not making retarded topics.

>>1923493

Oh hey it's you. What's up? Any thoughts on the topic?

>>1923493
> do their business in the ocean.
That's not scale-uppable to large oceanic populations.

>>1923542

>>That's not scale-uppable to large oceanic populations.

Tell that to fish.

>>1923514
honestly, i don't think we're 'there' yet. trying to convince joe-blow american that living underwater is 'the new thing' is going to be tough. right now we use undersea habitats for research, and i have a hard time believing that people will be regularly living/working underwater on a full-time basis in the near future.

don't get me wrong, i love the ocean. it would be cool to have a series of habitats a la "Seaquest DSV"...but i just don't see the current population going for it.

>>1923553

>>.but i just don't see the current population going for it.

It won't be for everyone. But I don't need everyone to move into the sea for this to be a viable business model. It'll sell to divers, surfers, hobby ocean fishers and so on in sufficient numbers to turn a tidy profit and frankly if we get a few thousand people living underwater I'll be satisfied.

>>1923561
i think you'd be lucky to get a few hundred, unfortunately. people will still have strong ties to land and won't be so quick to abandon them.

>>1923584

We'll see. Price can be tuned such that even with just a few hundred sales we can cover initial expenses and pay off our investors. Beyond that every additional habitat we sell will simply be a bonus.

>>1923561
Dude, I'd buy it. but I better have the option of having a normal/chemical toilet and then the excrement gets transported down tubes to algae or whatever. I do not like that compostable toilet.

Fuck I'd love to live under the sea in a pineapple hut

Go for it dude. I think your idea is a winner.

I am a real person with real money and I would definately be interested in owning one of your underwater homes. Not in lieu of landed accomodation but if affordable, as a holiday home/project. I would love to be able to spend 2-3 days at a time spear/fishing/diving and not have to factor in travel to shore and back every day. In the mean time it could be put to work paying itself off as an affordable fishing 'shack' for the numerous likeminded sporting individuals and hobbyists.

I really hope to see your idea come to fruition. And no hard feelings but I wish your competitors godspeed as well.

GO TEAM HUMAN, WERE NUMBER ONE

>>1923914

>>And no hard feelings but I wish your competitors godspeed as well.

Hey, me too. Dennis Chamberland's pursuing the same goal but with a different model.

If I'm financially ruined because he decides to start selling habitats to frequent vacationers instead of renting them to colonies families he could easily surpass my efforts. The man has decades of experience at this.

But if ten years from now either of us have sold enough of these things that people start living in permanent communities instead of visiting for the weekend I'll consider it all to have been worthwhile.

Biggest issues with undersea homes
1. Dampness
2. Power
3. Light (can be solved by being in shallow clear water)
4. Safety
5. Dampness

1&5 are the biggest factor for getting mass acceptance, 4 is the biggest one for mass production

Personally, I think the more tractable idea is to design Sea/Lake side homes that are half underwater and half above ground.


If anything you have to be content with a fairly niche market (divers and enthusiasts essentially)

>>1923939

>>1. Dampness

Dehumidifier.

>>2. Power

Solar bouy.

>>3. Light (can be solved by being in shallow clear water)

These will definitely be situated in the daylight zone. No more than 90 feet deep. Probably closer to 30-60 on average.

>>4. Safety

We've come a long way in that respect.

You didn't mention thermal regulation. That's another issue early habitats had before they integrated compact aircon. Depending on the hull material the habitat walls were either excellent or terrible thermal conductors and the interior would overheat/become intolerably cold accordingly.

Luckily the price for a compact, reliable air conditioner has plummeted since the 1960s.

>Luckily the price for a compact, reliable air conditioner has plummeted since the 1960s.

Since it is underwater it may be much easier to use a heat pump and just dump energy directly into the water without a secondary loop

>>1923113
>get fined for skinny dipping in the ocean
>underwater police officers patrolling the ocean

You are a tremendous faggot go kill yourself.

Other wise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItgsCQyPuM4

>>1923948
Are these on the floor, or floating at that depth?

>>1923984

On the floor, anchored by spikes driven into the soft sands.

>>1923969
Most aircons ARE heat pumps these days.

bamp

Really? No one posted this yet? It seems so appropriate...

>>1923553
Joe Blow American here, I'm with ya.
Just add a large enough door (air-lock/water-lock/bottom pool entrance?) to get my big screen in there and some kinda airtight trailer that sinks with my scooter and can be towed by it and I'll buy.

>>1925438

Yeah, they make dryboxes of all sizes that are neutrally buoyant. Though we'd only sell ones large enough to get inside through the moon pool.

Rather than a trailer, there'd probably be secure spots to attach two watertight suitcases to either side of the scooter.

>>1925438

Yeah, they make dryboxes of all sizes that are neutrally buoyant. Though we'd only sell ones large enough to get inside through the moon pool.

Rather than a trailer, there'd probably be secure spots to attach two watertight suitcases to either side of the scooter.

>>1925495
Hey, I work with solar panels, if you want, I could totally help you out with some calculations.
How much kWh do you think your undersea homes would need when inhabited, let's say per day?

>>1925495
I'm talking about a big box with a ring that mates to your moon pool. Then I can haul my shit and pop it through the pool to get the shit inside.

Too lazy to make 10 trips with tiny boxes and my tv is pretty big. :D

>>1925513

>>How much kWh do you think your undersea homes would need when inhabited, let's say per day?

They'd be running on a 12 volt system like an automobile. Lighting would be LED based, of the type that replicates the same wavelengths as natural sunlight (typically used in grow ops). There'd be a microwave and electric griddle, the largest power hogs next to the heat pumps, which would regulate internal temperature as well as provide hot and cold running (salt) water. Drinking water would be kept in it's own external tank, slowly replenished by a desalination filter, which would also represent a modest load on the system.

I haven't worked out what it would total in kilowatts per day but I expect that with a pairing of cheap amorphous solar panels sealed into a watertight buoy (that could be submerged during storms) the power needs would be pretty well taken care of. The battery bank would be lithium iron phosphate, and fairly modest as it would not be responsible for compressing air. That would be done by the panels, directly driving an electric air compressor on the buoy and surplus air would be stored in scuba tanks affixed to the exterior. I expect it would produce such a surplus that you'd want the buoy to intelligently divide it's time between compressing air and charging the battery bank. That's fairly simple to do with an off the shelf microcontroller.

Corrosion is a concern

Just throwing in a thought, what about replenishing oxygen/scrubbing CO2 and maintaining overpressure? do you have separate tanks for that?

i don't really think you'll be able to get these things stable as you would need a fuckton of weight for each trailer. not even talking about the huge underwater bowl you mentioned.

what kind of extra weight would you use to ram the legs into the seabed, keep the habitats straight even in strong currents, etc

>>1922766
I still think your best bet is to start these in lakes and inland bodies of water. Then release an ocean version later once everything can be effectively tested in a safe inland environment.

>>1925546

I'm considering sodasorb for CO2 removal, but for the most part each habitat will simply flush it's atmosphere continually out the moonpool at a rate sufficient for 8 adult occupants. As they're designed for two adults and two children that should be overkill.

>>1925548

The weights will be separate. Probably standard lifter's weights, the disc shaped ones. That way divers could carry them out by boat and affix them to rods on each stabilizing leg one by one until the buoyancy was visibly neutral or a little more than neutral. Then blowing ballast would be sufficient to sink it, and additional weights could be added as desired for security.

>>1925604

This is most likely what we'll do.

>>1925533
You'd probably want a 24V system, you can actually buy 24V DC appliances and you'd save on the costs of buying a inverter, plus a inverter has about 5-10% energy loss too.
it's also just a matter of rewiring your battery pack to make it 24V, obviously.

>amorphous solar panels
>Corrosion is a concern
It is, especially when you want to be able to submerge them. In my experience crystalline solar cells are FAR more durable, and they've dropped in price quite a lot recently.

To give you a guideline, 1Wp (crystalline solar cell) will produce between 0.8 and 1.2 kWh per year, depending on hours of sun per year and intensity (I live in Holland, it's about 0.85 for us here).
Because you're on water, they'll produce about 10-20% more, but the charging and discharge cycles of an autonomous system will also cost you about 10-20%.

The costs for such a system would be between 5 and 7 dollars per 1Wp, excluding batteries

The charge regulator you'd want to charge your panels would probably be an Outback, I hear they're very good: http://www.outbackpower.com/products/charge_controllers/flexmax/

You probably also want to know a rough surface area, it's about 240Wp per square meter.

Hope I've been usefull:)

>>1925671

>>Hope I've been usefull:)

Sure have. Any reason why I might pick monocrystalline over polycrystalline or vice versa? This is relevant to my current side project, even.

>>1925671
140Wp* per square meter

>>1925686
Different production mechanisms, same end product, it's really kind of the same:)

>>1925707

The cost of the batteries does concern me.

By the by, I think it may be possible to use silicone for this design; >>1923084 silicone, stretched thin under that stress, would act like the membrane of a fish gill; Separating oxygen out of passing seawater without using any electricity to do so. My main concern is the strength of the silicone. I expect a finer net would compensate, though. Provided no overly large patches are unsupported, the silicone should hold, due to the strength of the net that the membrane is fixed to.

Thoughts?

>>1925725
The cost of the batteries is obviously completely dependent on the required power.
Lets say you need 10kWh per day, and you want to be able to survive three days with really bad weather. Even in a storm, you'll always get about 1/3 of your wattage. that means that, if you've over-sized your solar array to produce, for example 15kWh per day, you'll get 15kWh where you need 30kWh.
This means you need a storage capacity of 15kWh @ 12V, which is 1250Ah, so that's approximately 12-13 car batteries.
Now, you can probably figure out the price with that yourself (partially 'cause I live in Europe and I don't have a clue what batteries go for in the USA.)

>>1925793

>>so that's approximately 12-13 car batteries.

Hey, not too shabby. I would never use lead acid batteries however as my experience in building EVs has taught me that they are total garbage and die after two years of moderate use and as little as six months of heavy use. If I'm gonna do this it has to be lithium iron phosphate as the price is coming down lately and they last 10+ years.

>>1925833
Keep in mind that the 1250Ah is completely dependant on the numbers I used, for instance I used 15kWh of solar power for 10kWh of use, which is kind of over the top.
Also, the 1/3 factor for bad weather can be found on NASA's site for different locations.
Another thing, I'm guessing your power use could be way higher, but that's something you probaly don't know yet;)

Hey you're the guy who made the hampture
Congrats bud, I'm glad someone around is doing something instead of just telling other people what they got in their internet IQ test

>>1926030

>>Hey you're the guy who made the hampture

Yeah, although I'm working on a new project now: http://projectearthrover.blogspot.com/2010/10/new-project-new-blog.html

This underwater home thing is a longterm goal that's dependent upon my ability to produce a convincing pitch for investors. I intend to keep doing little side-projects in the meantime, mostly to learn about related technologies.