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/sci/ - Science & Math

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12006218 No.12006218 [Reply] [Original]

why are all the solar powered boats on the market catamarans or trimarans? why don't they make displacement hulls for these, hydrologically speaking?

>> No.12006308

>>12006218
Not a naval architect, but wouldn't a catamaran (or trimaran) have less structure below the waterline, leading to less hydrodynamic drag? Seems like maximizing propulsion efficiency would be useful for a solar-powered boat.

>> No.12006329

>>12006218
2 main reasons

1) solar power needs large surface to drag/weight ratio to work, catamarans provide the largest possible surface area for minimum drag so they are the no brain option for a solar boat
2) solar boat is a big meme and only people who would buy one are generally looking for a pic related luxury sailing experience (not work or cargo roles basically). Catamarans can fit a lot of stuff like a large master bedroom, large space outdoors for partying and just generally good amount of features and ocean cred for the size while again still functioning as a good sailing boat

>> No.12006825
File: 1.38 MB, 2896x1944, Solar_Sailor.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12006825

>>12006308
>>12006329
exactly

>> No.12009050

>>12006218
How much does this boat cost, hypothetically speaking?

>> No.12009079

>>12009050
about 2m euros, monetarily speaking.
https://www.silent-yachts.com/silent55/

>> No.12009194

>>12006218
>>12006308
The other reason is that you need the space anyways for the solar panel so you might as well choose a form-factor that makes use of large top down surface area.

>> No.12009725

>>12006308
That is correct.

>> No.12011059
File: 139 KB, 1147x592, boats.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12011059

>> No.12011257

>>12011059
There's no way that boat is completely solar. Those panels probably just supplement the battery so you can run lights and A/C while the engine is off.

>> No.12011279

>>12011257
All solar devices need batteries to be reliable. You can't have your boat stuck in the middle of nowhere if its cloudy.

>> No.12011283

>>12011279
You can if you have enough panels. It's all about surface area with these things.

>> No.12011289

I wonder if a regular sail ship is actually superior to these solar powered things in every way, except maybe that they require a more skilled captain.

>> No.12011290

>>12011283
cloud/rain = no sun

Unless you're talking about solar panels with surface area the size of few cities

>> No.12011326
File: 125 KB, 1024x723, sunwave-54-solar-powered-catamaran-02.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12011326

>>12011289
Good, light sailing catamaran or trimaran in the same price range will be faster, but these new solar ones are easier to "sail", and generators which are used to power batteries will last longer than regular boat engine. And when it's sunny you don't need to use generators at all. When the price drops solar boats will be vastly superior to regular ones.

>> No.12011526
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12011526

in decades panels and batteries may be twice as powerful and ten times cheaper

>> No.12011703

>>12011526
If you look at ebay, you can find solar panel costing 22 cents per watt for a used panel (250watt/$56). These deals are extremely cheap if anyone wants to buy and they're from liquidation due to old solar company going bankrupt.

I reckon we could get to something like that in a decade for new solar panels. In that case, it would cost ~$225 for 1 kw(or $2250 for 20kw) solar panel. Battery prices are also dropping at similar rate. So expect under $50(currently its at ~$100/kwh) for kwh this decade. With 10kwh battery going for $500.