solar panels

[chucklesR]

I don't know SD, I tend to take them on faith when they say that an electric motor has full torque at 1 RPM, and it's torque that moves the propeller not HP and because of that the boat only needs 1/2 to 1/3 the horsepower when compared to a diesel.

That said, the chart at the link shows 65 amp's (3120 watts) or 4.1 hp pushing the Islander 28 test boat (7000 pound displacement) at 5kts. With 220ah of batteries on board..make that 8000 pound displacement.
Maybe they have something there, maybe not. I don't have an Islander 28 to test with a 4hp outboard.

Of course, real world independent testing has proven otherwise.

We'll purposely skip the fact that they say 3 hours of use to take the battery to 80% drained because no good skipper would KILL his batteries that way.

dang it, I was going to stay positive..

[johnnyboats]

the electric drive system i would plan on using uses 40-60 amps cruising, about 150 at full throttle. i plan on having a generator producing 100 amps @ 48V, enough to keep up with any decent cruising speed, that would burn 1/5th gallon an hour, i would only run just electric for short periods, like entering harbors or docking, keeping the battery bank from draining any lower than 40% drained, greatly improving their lifspan.

[chucklesR]

Makes sense Johnnyboats, and seriously if it's a good plan for you then it's a good plan.

[waltsn]

Good for you for trying.. Im wondering where you will find the 48 volt DC generator? Most of the small gas gensets you can buy (like the Honda's) put out all the higher power at 110 VAC only. Some have 12 volt outlets but its usually low power.

[tomaz_423]

Johnnyboats,
It is nice to read you are planing to use generator.
I was afraid you would hope to motor based on solar alone.
I am interested to hear the progress. Please keep us posted.

[johnnyboats]

thanks for the encouragement, yeah any kind of long range has to have a hybrid system. ive found two generators that produce 100 amps at 48v, one is at amplepower.com, the other is at re-e-power.com, i recomend checking the later site out if your curious about electric drives, this system is different but i think has the most pros for any system. ive still got a few months till my boat even leaves the dirt, so plenty of time for more research!!