The sea is an idea environment for developing new and renewable energies such as wave and wind power, but it is also home to shipping and we do not want to leave boats and ships of all sizes out of taking advantage of clean energy.
From the Taiwan company Horizon which is based in Kaoshiung, comes their latest design the SunCat 23 pleasure yacht. Horizon is in collaboration with the German company, SolarWaterWorld AG which has been developing solar powered boats in the European market.
This is one of a series of zero emission solar powered boats being developed by the company and looks to be an exciting look at what we see commonly cruising along our rivers and shores in the near future.
The SunCat design is an open deck catamaran coming in at a length of 23 feet and powered by a 2.8 kilowatt electric outboard motor. You can take a party of up to 12 passengers for a clean energy cruise as a speed of 5 knots. To power this, 4 photovoltaic solar panels are mounted on a canopy above the deck which combined can produce around 700 watts of solar energy. Unlike fossil fueled energy the solar power is gathered and stored when ever the sun shines ready for whenever you need it. All this is stored in a bank of batteries which have enough capacity to power the yacht for an average day trip.
Designed with a low resistance catamaran hull the SunCat 23 optimizes its energy use an can cruise around with the just equivalent power that is needed for a typical microwave oven. All this energy derived from the renewable solar energy and the stylishly incorporated photoelectric solar panels.
While you may be thinking that 5 knots is not fast, well its not compared to some high powered boats, but why do you need speed when you cruising around the rivers and coasts. Enjoy the pollution free and quiet trip the way nature intended.
On the horizon, so to speak, for Horizon is the SunCat 46, a larger design for a small luxury multi hulled yacht.
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