How DIY Electric Catamaran Works (Solar & LiFePO4 Battery Bank) [Fully Explained]

[@TomBortels]

First solar setup video I've seen *anywhere* that mentioned the danger of lightning and had a sane solution for it. Nice.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

David is a brilliant guy!

[@alaasadek2908]

Bravo from Egypt. I am currently running my house by 18 solar panels and an 11kw inverter. I also charger my 60 kwh BYD Atto 3. I am soon going to increase my battery from 5kWh to 20kWh. I feel pessimistic. And if war erupts, maybe a boat like this might be a life line and at any rate It will be something for me to do in my late years. Once again Bravo from Egypt.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Wow! But yes, for sure.

[@ayanshproplayer5559]

Bother interesting knowledge if you have rice mailing and weet mailing mashing Cost will be 0 of Using electricity or - 20 or -30 no loose

[@TheMikesylv]

Nice job sir from America

[@johnrichards5053]

You can probably do about 10 nautical miles per day on a 40 foot boat with that solar. I wouldn’t want the range anxiety 😥

[@dracarysblackfyre6030]

No Way! I'm from Australia, have the same car (Extended range) and just got an 11kw PV system installed yesterday

[@MePowlo]

Dave is so knowledgable , what a great guy :)

[@byGDur]

Love youtube for content like this. Thank you for sharing this!

[@themilkman7367]

Crazy this popped up in my feed. This was always my dream. I also had the idea of having two layers of solar panels stacked on top of each other. The top panel layer is on rails and can be extended out over the water. The rail system would work much like kitchen drawers. This would effectively double the solar absorption capacity. The idea would be to be able to absorb twice the solar energy when at anchor or possibly while in very calm seas. If anyone doesn't think this would work, I'd love to hear why. Also I wonder if it would be able to put a folding mast. I understand the voltage drops immensely if the panels are shaded at all, hence fold the mast(this could be in the middle area). In the case of wind or at night, the mast can be raised and sail deployed. Great video.

[@shaynetobin5894]

You can use a steerable kite or chute attached to the windlass or bollard, excellent for reducing rolling. I have seen catamarans and a 60ft tri ( $50 surplus ordinance parachutes ) doing this 20 years back . There’s many more options on the market now although they won’t point as high as a sloop, but you can use the electric Motors if you have to get to windward quickly 😊

[@Creative_Outdoors]

This is a next generation idea. I bet there will be a lot more of these on the seas in the coming years.

[@jimbob3030]

Yes, but even with all this advancement it's still hard to compete with wind and sails for this type of craft.

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

This is a pioneering set up ... there are thousands of boating types that are interested even if the industry isn't able or willing to make the move.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

I agree!

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

@@Adventureman_Dan Just found this channel's update kzbin.info/www/bejne/qp-4mJatbdCInposi=IDFqLmmV0rTOAQ85 Windelo build and in use. The build episode is the previous one. Goes well with the Barefoot doctors technical lookover.

[@TheHandyJeff]

This is incredibly interesting and I want to build a electric solar boat now

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Glad to hear it buddy!

[@marviwilson1853]

Remember it doesn't have to be a catamaran. Mono hulls will work just great as well. Many more of them and much cheaper. Best one, as with this catamaran, is to find one with broken winches, old sails and well worn diesel. Even cheaper to buy and some re-sale value on that stuff you don't need. As has been mentioned before build the solar roof as a double layer so that the under layer can be extended athwartships when possible. Use a high capacity EV lithium phosphate battery but be sure to marinize it correctly.

[@papab8446]

Ok this video is not just about numbers but real time movements… such a great education freaking love it…

[@PatStenteford]

What a legend, sharing all that innovation and hard work. Great content!

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Cheers buddy, I appreciate you!

[@jasonlezlie]

Incredible proof of concept! I totally want this exact setup. By my rough estimates, the components of this put it in the ballpark of $300K. Silent Yachts are absolutely stunning but start at what $2M? This is a completely off-grid life where you can take your home around the world if you really wanted to. My goodness I want something like this so badly.

[@SailingElectra]

I'm also living on a dollar electric catamaran that I built. I looked at Indigo Lady a lot when trying to decide if i wanted to keep the mast or fit more panels. In the end i kept the mast and have 3200W of panels. That means i can travel all day at 4-5 knots, but even the wind is right i can sail or motor sail at 6+ knots.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

That's great!

[@steffenfrost]

I was wondering if you could horizontally store a mast along the center gangway, something you could rig up at night and be under sale power.

[@matthamilton4053]

This is so awesome. I’d love to do this myself one day. I’ve done solar on motorhomes before, and recently got a simple electric car (eMoke), and yeah the massive benefit is just how much simpler everything become mechanically when you go all-electric. I think there is a part of me that would still want a generator backup like here, but even so that is so much simpler when you don’t need a gearbox and transmission.

[@johnrichards5053]

Did you move your motorhome on solar? Eh no.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

You can do it!

[@YooooouKnowwwww]

David, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!

[@jstaffordii]

Was researching last week. There are now 500+ AH cells available in that form factor. I'm planning to take my sticks and brick home fully off grid. Have already been net zero energy using solar for almost 5 years with 9.25 kwp.

[@ipoopmuffins]

really cool boat, i do love the irony of "i like to live" excuse for a 48v system but then several sharpened spikes around the roof of the boat that could definitely pierce an artery lol.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

You and me both!

[@patrickthompson4800]

I’m planning on converting a KD860 to solar electric. This video was very helpful thank you. The KD860 is a 28ft catamaran with a 14 ft beam. The plans can be ordered.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Awesome project, good luck with it!

[@lupusk9productions]

Can not wait to do this some day! I am obsessed with the silent yachts but theyre so expensive. Would be cool to build my own. Also solar panel tech has gotten better, you can get 450-500+ watt panels now too so could increase solar production in addition to the better modern batteries!

[@Adventureman_Dan]

You should!

[@JS-di9qg]

I’ve got a diesel electric catamaran since 11 years. It was designed and delivered it that way in 2006. I’ve upgraded it since then, but most parts are original. I tend to try to sail mostly… anyways, when propulsion is required a 26kW in-shaft diesel generator feeds 3 phase 400VAC to industrial controllers that feed the 3 phase 12kW motors with modulated 400VAC. Highly efficient and light cabling. Top speed 9kn, cruising 6.5kn while using about 4-5kW for both motors. No propane onboard but induction stove. All Victron setup. House bank is 150 Ah LiFePO4 @ 24 V + solar panels. Plenty. AC is way safer than DC. DC electrocution electrolysis within your body continuous for a long time after the shock, where as AC does not. AC also allows your muscles to let go 50 times per second and not crisp the wire continuously. That said, neither is good. Just my 2 cents worth. Best wishes with your project!

[@jasongrinnell1986]

Lots of jump islands all the way down from Bahamas to South America. Long jumps really depend on weather windows because you are not gonna get away for unexpected weather.

[@LJ-jq8og]

👋 DAN: Can you do another video with David💪❤ where DAVID explains what he would do TODAY with a new "dream build" implementing all of the latest new technologies... That would be fascinating ❗ It would get MILLIONS of views too❗ And, it would allow for a "crowd sourcing" of ideas 💡for your future BUILD ... You could have a whole separate NEW YT CHANNEL of enormous success !

[@Adventureman_Dan]

I LOVE comments like that! Yes that is an excellent idea. I'll reach out to David.

[@LJ-jq8og]

@@Adventureman_Dan AND I'll bet you could get SPONSORS to pay for a lot of your build too 💪💰

[@licencetoswill]

oh yeah, that would be a must watch.

[@daveduncan2748]

Super intriguing. This idea has been floating around in my brain. I've figured I could get 7kW of solar on a smaller cat. With a sturdy slide mechanism, even have it be double layered so that in the open in light and moderate winds, the top layer could slide out, exposing a second layer for a 14kW array. I had been thinking about three battery banks. I'd one in each engine compartment and a under one of the aft bunks. On the boat I'm envisioning, the generator is forward, next to the windlass. I'd remove the engines, leaving room for the ocean volt motor and a battery bank (or two) in each engine compartment. At around $1500/15kWh of 300Ah LiFePO4 cells from China, I could get 6 of those for $9k (2 in each engine bay, and one under each rear bunk). The Quatro inverters, solar controllers, lynx bus bars, cerboGX, display, and cables are probably another $10-15k. Another $7-14k for solar panels, and probably $10k for the roof/solar rack. So, $40k-ish for the parts. Plus the Oceanvolt motors. They make you request a quote for those.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Glad to see soo many others thinking this same thing!

[@licencetoswill]

there are much cheaper options than ocean-volt with similar performance.

[@daveduncan2748]

@@licencetoswill How do you even know how much OceanVolt motors are? They won't tell me unless I give them all my info. Not going to happen--at least at this early stage of my planning. But pray tell... what are the competitor brands that are better value?

[@chrisdaniel1339]

There is a couple with a YT channel called 'Everlanders' the guy, Jason is a genius, some type of electrical engineer, with lots of structural engineering knowledge he built a rugged overlanding vehicle and on the roof he built a solar system that is in two layers, when the overlander is parked he voice commands his phone to open the solar that is actuated by pneumatic cylinders and rides on heavy duty drawer slides and he doubles his solar in an instant. He built the entire electrical system, developed his own management system using Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards and he controls the entire vehicle from his phone, A/C, lights, solar, TV, it is amazing. The water system is pneumatic as we so they do not have to hear the typical RV style pump constantly running. One the stainless steel water canisters are pressurize there is no sound when the tap is turned on.

[@daveduncan2748]

@@chrisdaniel1339 Yes. His double-decker solar system is the inspiration for me to do the same on my dream boat.

[@PetawattsAutoMarineRVLtd]

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing all the details!

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Thanks for watching!

[@TornState]

I started shopping for a boat years ago to convert to electric. I ended up designing my own and started building it. I have a pretty similar setup. 2x 304ah lifepo4 @ 48v but I only have a 10kw motor. I hope I can get at least similar performance (5ish kts)

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Thats awesome! Send me an email if you can with some pics of it!

[@atomicsmith]

Thanks for this more technical follow up! Such a simple system. I tend to agree with you that saving the cost, maintenance and weight of the diesel gensets and investing it in more batteries would make this really viable. I’d be very surprised if these don’t begin to take over the charter market in the Caribbean very soon. Seems like it’s simpler and probably cheaper than sails from both an owners and sailors perspective…

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@EndlessBatterySolutions]

My retirement plan. Great video. Great engineer. Especially the lightening arrester.

[@Chris-bg8mk]

Mine too!

[@johnrichards5053]

Just do the math. It doesn’t work 😂

[@Vean440]

THAT water color is insane... could live there for sure ;P

[@jesseroel5045]

thankyou for sharing this wisdom! this helps me so much for my future plans

[@Adventureman_Dan]

I'm so glad!

[@merendell]

As a general rule 50V DC is around the safe upper limit before the voltage can overcome the natural resistance of healthy dry skin. The actual drop dead point in ideal conditions is a bit higher than that and you might get away with 60-70 but your playing with fire over 50. That's why 48v is such a popular "Safe" voltage as its 4X the ubiquitous 12 volt that many battery packs are designed to and a simple 4 in series gets you there while being nominally under the danger limit. Its the best compromise between safe enough to work with and keeping the amps down so you dont need massive wires. You'll still feel 50VDC but its going to be conducting along the surface of the skin for the most part. Thats painful but not deadly. The deadly comes if its shortest path to ground manages to get through the skin and into your internal organs. The resistance of your insides is much much lower than your skin. You still dont want to be playing around with even 50v if you have cuts on your hands and realisticly rubber gloves is never a bad idea unless it drops your dexterity too low to work.

[@myself248]

And 48v was determined empirically by the telegraph network, which became the telephone network, which is why it became ubiquitous in data networking.

[@epictimebreaker]

85v is fine with dry hands.

[@markindy862]

Brilliant. Solar would be a great way to cruise.

[@AshleyMarks-]

He has a great boat. Pretty straight forward. I had to click off early because you kept interrupting him. Love your stuff though!

[@quasimoto4424]

ye he really need to learn to stfu and listen ;)

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Thanks for watching my video. 😀

[@yougeo]

If you want to electrify anything with electric motors instead of gasoline keep in mind that you can always buy smaller electric motors and run multiple motors on a pulley system using standard automobile drive belts which are very strong and very proven to all power one propeller or you can have multiple propellers on multiple small motors in the and that way you can start smaller and you can increase the amount of propulsion power as you feel you need it. My first electric motor on my sailboat which I converted was a simple yard sale 50 lb trolling motor and that was enough to push my boat which is a 27 ft catamaran that's about 6,000 lb at 1 1/2 not through the water all day on minimal power. Remember multiple small motors are often more efficient than one large electric motor as well. And they are certainly much less expensive to get the same amount of thrust into the water.

[@vb1419]

Dave is an awesome guy!

[@MrFerrariF360]

Just imagine if you put a sail on it!. J/K, this is a great video and awesome boat. I feel like there's about to be a bunch of new hybrid electric boats coming out.

[@7por7]

Awesome video, these solar powered boats and cars will continue to improve, specially the battery capacity and size/weight reduced.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Yes they do

[@timogronroos4642]

I think I would use ready-made LFP rack-based 48v batteries, 5kW or 10kW each. They are modular and easily changed if needed. Two racks with 4 x 5kW and you would have a 40kW system. Or four racks with an 80kW system, etc. They are robust and have very few wires outside the boxes for additional safety and individual switches and fuses are included. Also, the compression of the battery is already taken care of. Also easy to expand, just add some more for more kWs staying at 48v.

[@GeraldPUR]

Like your lightning strike mitigation method 😊. You need bigger battery pack. Awsome boat. Excellent choice with the Victron system **

[@marviwilson1853]

All that electric power means you also have all the comforts of home onboard and most importantly air con if you so desire. In hot countries it is worth it for that alone!

[@crowdfundcrew]

I’ve been waiting for someone to have videos on this boat. Love the concept, but would need more panels and a lot more battery, and probably bigger motors. Donate for a Dream

[@MattCampbell-h4g]

Love this

[@wstadlock]

I bought 32 305ah CATL cells for replacing the 4ea Relion 300ah batteries that are going bad after 6yrs. They were being charged to 100% instead of 90% . Will be increasing PV panels to 2400w to the 2400ah bank. 2017 leopard 48

[@0xKruzr]

just googled this boat; she's gorgeous. are you also doing a complete re-engineering with no sails and all solar-electric?

[@wstadlock]

@0xKruzr nope, waiting for technology to get all the bugs figured out, then a swap of the 4JH57's & SD60 to electric would be nice, we've owned her for 2yrs. only added 60hrs to aux. and 180hrs to Gen. Never a wind gen. Live full time on the hook(s) got into the prismatic cell building 6yrs ago for Gem car, and portable power.

[@AWildBard]

I was wondering about the roof structure. Very interesting idea to break up the wind force by putting a raised section in the center of the roof.

[@MarkBarrack]

Replay and listen. It is theory. He seems to be a very smart man. I would guess that a bit of design and research went into the roof. Hearing that it so robust that the boat could be lifted out of the water sounds good. I don't know, but would using shear pins be better? A high wind would allow the roof to tear away without tearing up the boat in an extreme condition. Yet downside is a large flying object.

[@joemauma5035]

Love a pioneer! This seems pretty well thought out for the technology and cost factors at time of build. However, every-time you mention "vent" for the 3 piece roof, i hit the pause button to contemplate that idea. Our dear physics teacher seems married to the idea that by splitting the solar roof into two large panels and a center walkway that equal the "wing" area of a single roof, he's lowering the chance of being blow away in a hurricane, that would be low anyways being mostly parallel to the wind. Does he have any teacher friends that are aerodynamics engineers, to run this past?

[@atomicsmith]

It would be nearly impossible to be certain without extensive wind tunnel testing, but I think it is a good precaution. That break allows the pressure to vent from one side to the other and reduce most of the possible lift.

[@Soldierboy1986]

A roof today in Florida is designed under this principle for Miami Dade Hurricane code. The Roof is opened and does not connect allowing the air to flow preventing lift, only covered by a cap. A roof is less likely to separate from the structure like they did during Hurricane Andrew, not excluding the hurricane straps and gang nail designs to keep and strengthen the truss system

[@mcmlxxx1980]

40V won't kill you?! That depends on the amps and the amperage of commercial PV is not under 0.30mA so, it will kill you.

[@KrysRevamps]

@@mcmlxxx1980 That's not how things works. simply saying "x" amount of volts and "x" amps is enough to kill is conceptually wrong whilst being followed by 99% of technicians worldwide, its a simple guideline which works but scientifically untrue. styropyro has a great video on it. The truth is that the human body has a complex amalgamation of factors like resistance, skin effect and many others. I can touch the positive and negative terminals on my 48v lifepo4 battery (which can discharge 500amps or more) and not feel anything because simple put, my body has a high enough resistance for it to never create a viable electrical bridge, though if you accidently bridge with something more conductive like a wrench, you can create a serious arc or explosion.

[@neonguy57]

Dan .. you need to get him to design a battery / solar system for your boat along with the lightning protection.

[@lifeon8320]

Great video. More videos like this one please.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

More to come!

[@franganghi]

The most educational video I've seen this yr so far. Thank you.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tim8deb]

Super cool cat

[@bahaiwebsites]

Very cool. Keep going!

[@chrisdaniel1339]

He should elevate those PV panels several inches so there is a good air flow underneath as heat is the enemy of electricity production. "Typically, a panel will experience only a 0.5% decrease in power for every degree above 25°C[77°F]" Dark color objects absorb heat energy from the sun, that is why asphalt in the summer is hot, black clothing absorbs more heat, black vinyl seats in a car. Solar PV cells are dark in color and if they do not have airflow to keep cool they lose a significant amount of production. Asphalt can reach temperatures of 120-150°F (48-67°C) in the summer. If a PV panel reaches 120°F its production decreases by 21.5%, if the panel reaches 150°F the decrease is an astounding 36.5%.

[@TheMrBrianh]

@19:40 - Redundancy that you never need, is worth the cost. If you have no redundancy and your system goes down, it can be the difference between life and death. It's like saying ocean liners are so reliable you don't need life rafts. 99.9%+ of the time, you are correct. The problem is that the 0.001% can kill you if you don't have a way to mitigate it. Can you imagine your entire propulsion going out in a storm because there is no backup. Crazy talk!

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Thank you for watching my video. 😀

[@TheMrBrianh]

@@Adventureman_Dan I have been watching Sailing Uma for the last 6 years, and I really enjoyed their DIY electrified sailboat, so your video was right down that same alley. Thanks for the good content.

[@nicklockard]

Delete one generator and sell it. Use that money to double your battery capacity. Boat loses 100 pounds mass, or cargo capacity increases by 100 lbs.

[@deepprey2776]

And give up the redundancy? I could see the redundancy as a major advantage to get home to keep from paying import fees for a certain port or another.

[@chimpo131]

you really underestimate the weight of batteries😂😂

[@JoeMalovich]

​@@deepprey2776 Solar is the other power source.

[@nicholaslogan5185]

My 14.6kw battery weights 308 pounds

[@ej2863]

You want redundancy at sea

[@ruffcamz5332]

What a guy I would love to meet this guy…he needs a channel asap

[@Adventureman_Dan]

I completely agree!

[@rhiantaylor3446]

Great boat. I would have wanted to reduce possible shading from the central spine by moving the inner rows of panels as far away as possible - looks like there is a 4 to 6 in gap you could do without.

[@SandBoxPioneer]

appreciate the foot for scale and to descale my thingymabob FEEEEEEEET

[@dc1544]

also he can add 5 portable 200watt Cigs/Yuma panels on his Bow trampolines which can be stored but would give him even more power from the sun. about 8kw more a day when needed.

[@licencetoswill]

i would just run the solar roof all the way forward to bearly double the power and give even more shade.

[@dc1544]

@@licencetoswill That would make the Catamaran nose heavy and it would dig into waves. That would not be helpful. You need to keep the front light so it goes over waves not through them. Going through them would slow them down and use even more power from batteries. He has a very nice balance of weight right now.

[@thephantom1492]

Personally, I think that it is a good idea to have things in redundance like it is, if you do ocean travel. A single battery bank that fail would cause your boat to not have any power anymore. However, I think that 1 generator only is fine. Personally, I think I'ld just connect both pack together via a fuse. That would make both system balance. In case of a major fault, the fuse would blow. In case of a less critical fault it would discharge both bank, but then the generator can kick in, disconnect the faulty bank and you still can travel, even at night.

[@gordonfoat8269]

Cool video. Enjoyed that.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@kathleenmead9259]

amazeballs!

[@samfromportadown]

This is fine as long as you stay in the mid latitudes. The tropics and equatorial regions. The Caribbean, South and central Pacific, the Indian Ocean, or even the Mediterranean during the summer months. In these places the sun shines strongly most of the time. But if you venture to more northern latitudes, up around the UK or northern Europe, you will encounter weather that's cloudy as often as not. And if you go there between October and March, you'll run into much less hours of daylight on top of that. A pure solar boat would struggle in those conditions IMHO, if you're going up there you need a diesel generator for backup, of sufficient power to drive the propulsion motors and support the hotel load simultaneously, and enough fuel capacity for at least a couple thousand miles of range on diesel power alone.

[@25566]

He has two generators it is not 100℅ solar

[@yougeo]

The old homes that were built in the Florida keys had a roof vents and vents in the sides of the walls for the exact same reason. You never wanted the pressure differential on one side or the other in a hurricane so by having vents it lets that pressure out.

[@Soldierboy1986]

Excellent project, cost effective , low fuel cost for diesel only/generators, on a pension! ❤ Live like a king, and a different place to call home whenever you want❤❤❤

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Exactly! He did a great job on this boat.

[@johnrichards5053]

@@Adventureman_Danis it just me or can no one smell snake oil. Just do the energy calculations. It doesn’t work.

[@nancynicholson616]

Just read your your 3 month old video on loneliness and solo sailing. Comment so true of life generally. Rare to have conversations that are not shallow. How did someone so young become so wise.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Awwww thank you. It's not the years but the miles. :)

[@sciencesaves]

I just learned so goddamn much

[@ejrupp9555]

oof ... would I bust ya bubble if I said .... and that's just the surface dirt. Wait until you start peeling the layers.

[@kenjohnson5498]

I wonder how hard the professor was cringing inside every time you called the electric motor an electric engine lol.

[@yougeo]

A very cheap source of 12-volt equipment such as refrigerators and other things are truck stops because truckers usually prefer to have their refrigerators and other things running off 12 via you really don't want to convert from DC to AC using an inverter and then the refrigerator itself will convert from AC off into DC to run the internal motor and run the other parts of the device so you would really rather have the refrigerator just be a 12 volt refrigerator or the lunch pail or the heated lunch pail or whatever be a 12 volt device and you can find those at the large truck stops because that's what truckers by. And again because they're made in mass quantities and they're made to be very durable for truckers you're going to find the quality is very good and the cost is very low.

[@optimus163]

The biggest obstacle to Full Solar reliance is cost. Sure the Deniers will bring up the arguments that Litho batteries etc are expensive to mine its ingrediants cannot be recycled etc blah blah . But look at any car / land based power plants... the amount of minerals / chemicals etc that goes into building those things is beyond belief and yet they still pollute as they operate . Where as Solar does not once installed and charging. Amazing isnt it ? ! We're getting there, and soon new solar battery tech is coming online. Keep up the good work Dan !

[@dnomyarnostaw]

As far as wind assistance, a electric motor driven Flettnet Royor would provide much greater power, and, it allows way higher pointing angles. I am developing a prototype Flettner Cylinder that can convert to a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.

[@--Valek--]

love the concept all except getting rid of the sails

[@LJ-jq8og]

DAN👋: Building one of these today with all the battery and other improvements should be far CHEAPER and faster with far better range too ❗

[@clivestainlesssteelwomble7665]

The leisure boating industry is largely piggybacking on the Automotive industries advances .. by virtue of the resources and research largely coming out of China and Europe.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Yes yes yes!

[@SpartyTime]

I've dreamed of doing something similar with a hurricane demasted cat. But I would probably keep one side with diesel propulsion.

[@0xKruzr]

would be more reliable to have multi-source electricity -- solar, generators, wind. electric motors have way fewer things to break than diesel!

[@laurapitre5797]

​@@0xKruzr😅😅😅

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Could be really cool buddy.

[@akinnon2000]

When you work with high voltage you learn to touch wire with the back of the end first, so if it's live it wont lock your fingers around the cable, but away from it.

[@PanelsUpSolar]

Thanks for this video series on Indigo Lady. If you look at our content, we traveled by land for 6 years off grid, but I would love to be able to build a Catamaran that would allow for unlimited travel on any body of water. If you want to talk about Victron parts, reach out.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Cheers, shoot me an email.

[@PanelsUpSolar]

@@Adventureman_Dan sent an email.

[@daveduncan2748]

I'd sure like to know more about his lightning protection system. For example, what wiring (gauge? insulation?) does he run from the spikes down to the metal hull plates? What are those plates made from? How big are they? How do the wires attach to the plates? Where are the 5 plates located on the hull? How are they attached to the hull?

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Checkout the Google doc he linked in the description.

[@daveduncan2748]

@@Adventureman_Dan Those details are not in the google doc.

[@leonardmoore2833]

Best idea ever! He mentioned that he would put a link to his how to build instructions. Did he provide a link? Also, was he in the US Navy? Thought I saw a Navy flag....

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Yes check the description for this video.

[@gwrulzmylife]

🤔 with newer panels I wonder 🤔 what we could build?

[@jstaffordii]

He would be around 9 kwp using the same surface area.

[@kreak403]

I have done extensive research for a DIY solar setup on future plans for a semi-off grid place. I live in Ohio, otherwise I would 100% consider getting something like an older Voyage like this and convert it.

[@MaxStevenson-ih5ji]

i wish he had showed the most important part: the electric motors and how they work on a hybrid boat like this.

[@patrickbrady447]

I wonder if you could add a few wind generators to your setup.

[@MH-jz1po]

Great video - Does David have any docs or ideas on a new build? What he would build today mapped out?

[@Adventureman_Dan]

I'm going to talk with him and see. 😀

[@ericspeltier]

I'm a bunch of years away, but yes I want a Cat with no fossil fuels. MAYBE I'd keep a very small generator that could run nav and radio. When I start building it, I'll focus on a very large battery bank, and, extra efficient appliances.

[@timeconomu7395]

I love this boat! Did i hear him say the keel was not needed for a solar non-sailing boat, or am I just thinking that?

[@25566]

Very cool

[@claycassin8437]

As long as the sun is out, you're golden. Just don't go to limited sun areas, like the British Isles, or other far northern climates. You could really use sails on that boat as well. They work without sunlight. It's really amazing.

[@glike2]

Parasails take little deck space and go faster downwind. Or a solid wing sail would go nice on this boat

[@nick-leffler]

Not a bad idea. You can put battery on one side and engine on the other.

[@bdmenne]

So powerful!! Pardon the pun.

[@moleisrich1]

I need this.

[@merendell]

One other thing to remember is the price of both solar panels and especially LiFePO4 batteries have dropped dramatically in the last 5 years. You could very easily build a battery pack today with twice the capacity for the same price as 5 years ago even with inflation. Even the panels themselves have been getting incremental improvements and you could probably get a bit more juice out of the same surface area with todays panels.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Yes! Exactly!

[@donhearn2248]

I am not a super educated man when it comes to batteries....but I have watched tons of build videos, and planned my own. This boat (According to their PDF) has them with 20 320 watt. panels... (outstanding)....going into a 320 amp hour 48v system. I have seen mono hulls with bigger battery banks....but none of them have that much solar. That is an amazing amount of solar. You would think with that much solar, and the ability to go 48v...they could put in a bigger battery bank. On that plus side they hit that 15kw number (about what you need to run the 12v dc Air Conditioners off of batteries---well you need half of that in 24 hours...but you know..clouds and stuff) I am kinda shocked they have to run off generators to do a full day of sailing...err....cruising...... I am probably just ignorant on the whole idea....but I would think you could just shunt off live panel power during the day to push the motors AND charge the batteries at the same time. This is such a great idea, but I wonder if there is a better platform to build off of. Maybe it is perfect, and there is no better platform, but I would wonder if a trawler with added electric engines would be better. You have to carry fuel either way, you could save cycles off your batteries when needing to go longer distances, you have emergency power in rough weather, you could get your "e-miles" when you want to be efficient. Your ballast weight is no longer just lead, it is emergency power in the form of engines. You are after all carrying around actual tons of extra weight to counter act sails that no longer exist on this boat.... Plus you have redundancy. Not just 2 engines, but 4, not just one generator, but 3. I don't know....but it is an interesting subject to think about.

[@mikesmith1690]

Great video!! I wonder how much an All In One inverter with premade wall hung battery bank would simplify this build (and make it cheaper). Its under $1400 for a 6kw AIO inverter (would need two of them for 7200w) and less than $3600 for a 14.3kw wall hung battery. The entire solar, battery, and inverter for this build would be under 10k for this build at todays prices.

[@timeconomu7395]

Dave talked alot about redundancy. When something breaks, not if, then you have a backup. If an all-in-one breaks, it takes out your charger, solar MPPT, and inverter. If one of those breaks in a component system, no big deal...much easier to find and ship one smaller box if you are remote.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Good question!

[@wstadlock]

Also went with Daly instead of JBD BMS's

[@JustinMiales]

What type of batteries ?

[@antonygilbert9695]

oh by the way, discussed personnaly with David a year ago, building a 40feet 100% solar too... Building in process in Quebec if you want to come down next summer :)

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Sounds like an awesome project - would love to see it someday! Shoot me an email.

[@antonygilbert9695]

@@Adventureman_Dan what's your email ?

[@watchthemouth5235]

Hi Dan,. do you know what size in kW is Dave's genset? How much diesel fuel they carry for the genset? Thanks. Benny

[@bilalbhatti7549]

You got DC generators. Or good inverter with gen set mode. Which does the same by 3 phase gen or single phase also

[@johnrichards5053]

Ehhh?

[@eliinthewolverinestate6729]

Solar electric sails boat make a lot of sense. They need proper fire suppression for lithium batteries and super capacitor banks. Every see the lights dim on a car as bass hits? A super capacitor stops the lights dimming and batter last longer as less hard cycles. You can still use power with dead batteries using super capacitor banks and batteries will charge.

[@timeconomu7395]

These are LFP, so not dangerous like lithium ion...

[@andrewt9204]

Don't need super caps on LFP cells that big. Those cells can dump 1500 amps each for a short time if you really need it. Those cells are way more robust than lead acid. With the motor VFDs you're not instantly slamming on the propulsion drives. There's a ramp curve.

[@jameserswell2161]

are there plans available for people to copy?

[@davidcox8961]

I made a 24 volt battery out of 280 ah cells. Same battery chemistry as this boat's batts. They are cobalt free and last far longer than the types used in cars. Less energy dense though. I've fantasized about doing this to a cat. Don't have the money. I also thought that a kite would work well for downwind sailing.

[@Adventureman_Dan]

Right on!

[@davidcox8961]

@@Adventureman_Dan I also put electric motors in two of the sailboats I've owed but that was before lithium batts were affordably. I used six volt trojan lead acid batts to make 48 volt system.

[@marklaffey7972]

Battery technology has more than doubled in the last five years

[@licencetoswill]

and the price has almost halved! a LFP model 3 pack is just over 10k for 50kwh. that would be a game changer for this boat.

[@yougeo]

MPP controllers actually get most of their efficiency advantage over pulse with modified controllers when your panels are often half in the shade or you have one panel in the shade and one panel out of the shade. However if you're operating outside on the water that's rarely going to be the case and and it just means again there's a lot less reason to get mppt controllers which are so much more expensive than the pulse with modified controllers. Also remember that anything that has boat or airplane in front of it is 10 times more expensive than the exact same thing you can get that says automobile. So you can buy DC motors and all kinds of controllers and relays for automobiles that are built to last 200,000 mi in all kinds of dirt and Dusty bouncy conditions for 1/10 the price you can buy the same devices for a boat or an airplane.

[@BadChad-tn3ii]

Cool. The radios and such as grounded to another dyna plate? What about the negative bus bar is it got it's own too? Will I see static change from the boats movement? Anyway thanks this gives me a good jump off point to build something much smaller. 12 by 8 can do 2k solar if I cover every inch. Also considered a solar raft with additional panels. There's just not enough room to generate. Agree 48v is worth the safety factor. Jumper cables are cheap vevor make 48v 2k brushless $150 with the controller. I have 6k in lifepo4. Solar is down to $60 a 100w. I have 1000w but need more. Running 2 2k motors. I'd need to roughly double my solar area to 4k for full power under ideal sun angle. So the raft could stack on the roof. The semi flexibes are a little less robust and powerful but very light. I need a lot more battery if I want range but it looks good

[@BadChad-tn3ii]

To preserve battery life I can only charge at about 50% so total is limited at 3k charging for the current bank

[@rudygarcia9190]

Uma the little electric 35 foot sailboat has been sailed for the last 9 years. She has even sailed to the arctic, etc..