T-Pain Is On A Boat: Re: [Electric Boats] Converting 44 foot bluewater sailboat to hybrid-electric

Friday, February 4, 2011

Re: [Electric Boats] Converting 44 foot bluewater sailboat to hybrid-electric

I'll be starting my 4th season with a Thoosa 9000 system on my 30 foot 16,000 lb boat in a few months (if this snow ever melts that is). It has worked great with minimal maintenance required. Though I've gotten rid of all the diesel fuel on board and took a three legged stool approach to charging using solar, wind and a small Honda 2000i generator. My 150 watts of 12 volt solar panels take care of almost all of my house bank needs. I use the Honda mostly to bulk charge the 48 volt bank at the end of the sailing day at anchor for the most part and on occasion when there is absolutely no wind for power which is not that often. After that the solar and wind keep things topped and also allow me to tap into the 48 volt bank to run the laptop allowing the house system to just take care of refrigeration pretty much. Though I am always looking at ways to cut energy consumption. For me that currently means converting the lights on board to LED's. You might want to look at that end of your energy use on board while you are at it.

Capt. Mike

http://biankablog.blogspot.com

--- On Thu, 2/3/11, green_on_blue <bill@greenonblue.net> wrote:

From: green_on_blue <bill@greenonblue.net>
Subject: [Electric Boats] Converting 44 foot bluewater sailboat to hybrid-electric
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, February 3, 2011, 9:36 PM

New to the Forum but have read through many of the postings.   The information sharing and candor of the forum members is awesome and much appreciated.

Apologies for the length of the first post ….

Below is a summary of a project that my wife and I have undertaken to convert our 44' sailboat to electric propulsion.    We are hoping to turn our personal experience into a future business venture that brings electric propulsion to more people.

Last weekend we finished pulling the diesel ICE so we are obviously committed but any thoughts for "hurdles to watch out for" or fine tuning suggestions are always welcome.

We are working with a great company – Sally and David at Annapolis Hybrid Marine – for the Thoosa electric propulsion motor and have also been talking with Charlie Johnson at JTB Marine in St. Pete Florida, as he has done top-notch work on our boat in the past when we were in Florida.

Current State
-          Hylas 44 Center Cockpit – 22,000 lbs displacement

-          Propulsion
o   Yanmar Diesel – 55 HP – Model 4JHTE
o   17" diameter – 3 blade "feathering", Self-Pitching Prop
o   105 gallons of fuel

-          Power Sources
o   Balmar 12v Alternator
o   Shore Power – 110AC – 30A
o   NextGen – 5.5kw diesel genset – 110AC
o   Victron 12v Charger

-          Power Storage
o   House Batteries – Northstar AGM – 400 ah capacity
o   Engine Battery
o   Windlass Battery

-          Large Power Consumers
o   12v DC Refrig
o   110v AC Refrig
o   110v AC Air Conditioners (2)
o   Auto-pilot – Rathyeon (Electric Drive)
o   Chartplotter/Radar – Nav Instruments
o   Electric Windlass

Proposed State – planning to be back in the water this Spring / Summer
-          Propulsion
o   ASMO Marine - Thoosa 12000 and controller
o   21" diameter – 3 blade fixed prop.   Have not determined pitch yet.

-          Power Sources
o   Shore Power – 50A – split for 220AC and 110AC applications
o   NextGen – 5.5kw diesel genset – 220AC
o   Victron 12v Charger: 110AC input – for house bank
o   Zivan 72v Charger: 220AC input – for motor bank
§ considering other chargers but this seems likely.

-          Power Storage
o   House Batteries – Northstar AGM (2 – parallel) – 400 ah capacity
o   Motor Batteries – Northstar AGM (6 - series) – 200 ah capacity
o   Windlass Battery

-          Large Power Consumers
o   12v DC Refrig
o   110v AC Air Conditioner – 1 unit (one removed)
o   Auto-pilot – Rathyeon (Electric Drive)
o   Chartplotter/Radar – Nav Instruments
o   Electric Windlass

In the future we plan to also add in solar and wind generation but we want to see how the systems performs in real life – and allow the "cruising kitty" to grow back.

All thoughts are welcome as we go through this journey.

We are passionate about the idea of electric versus diesel but also know there is a balance that is needed to get more people comfortable with the idea.    Our hybrid approach with the diesel genset is the balance for us in the beginning but we are hopeful that technology and pricing will one day allow batteries, solar, etc. to push the genset and diesel fuel off the boat altogether.