# Solar-powered boat



## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

It looks like a floating cafeteria. 

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The first passenger boat in the country run completely on solar energy will start service in the first week of December. The trial run of the solar bo...

Read more at: India's first solar-powered boat to start service in December


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## irosie91 (Nov 27, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> It looks like a floating cafeteria.
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TOO LATE-----captain kirk already had a SOLAR POWERED SHIP--------space ship---


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 27, 2016)

You know, if they can make this thing work it would be AWESOME!!!!  

And............there are LOTS of places here in the US that could use something like that.  Think Cape May ferry in NJ for one, because they run a ferry service across the water. 

And................if it uses the new batteries that Musk developed, this could be a proven game changer.


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## The Great Goose (Nov 27, 2016)

I wonder how fast it goes?


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 27, 2016)

The Great Goose said:


> I wonder how fast it goes?



You know, since they are just using it for a ferry, I really don't think that speed is much of a factor.  Reliability and safety would be at the top instead of speed.


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## Bleipriester (Nov 27, 2016)

I am working on a solar submarine.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 27, 2016)

Bleipriester said:


> I am working on a solar submarine.



You know, I watched a documentary on one of the latest subs to be commissioned the other day and they showed how subs make oxygen.  They simply use electricity to break the bond between the hydrogen and oxygen, resulting in pure oxygen and hydrogen. 

Now..............we already know you need oxygen to breathe on a sub, and since the process of producing it also yields hydrogen, I wonder if there would be a way to harness the hydrogen produced and use it to power the sub? 

I think that would work better than a solar powered sub (yes, I know you were joking), because below 150 ft. there is little to no light.


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Bleipriester said:
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Very good thought! Only thing is that hydrogen is very volatile. So accumulating it in a significant quantity would probably be a liability.


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## Bleipriester (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Bleipriester said:
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Not only that but a submarine needs much more power than a few panels can provide.


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## Freewill (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Bleipriester said:
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Interesting thought but I believe that in using hydrogen as a source would take oxygen making it an uneconomic trade off.  Besides being dangerous as hell, as were/are the oxygen generators.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 27, 2016)

You know, with all the technology we have today, there should be a safe way to harness the hydrogen and make it safe. 

Besides..................making your own power from the very water you are traveling through would be the ultimate green vehicle. 

I mean................companies have made hydrogen powered cars, why can't they make subs?


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

This is a good development and if it succeeds, it will be one step towards reducing pollution.


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> You know, with all the technology we have today, there should be a safe way to harness the hydrogen and make it safe.
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> Besides..................making your own power from the very water you are traveling through would be the ultimate green vehicle.
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> I mean................companies have made hydrogen powered cars, why can't they make subs?



I certainly think that with appropriate safeguards, hydrogen can be harnessed. However, unless you are talking about fusion, in order to generate energy using hydrogen, you will need combustion. This will require oxygen and therefore would negate the objective for which the hydrogen in the submarine was created. Modern submarines are powered by nuclear reactors. They produce more energy than a submarine would ever need.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 27, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> This is a good development and if it succeeds, it will be one step towards reducing pollution.



You know, the pollution reduction is good, but I'm thinking more about the out of the way places that are accessible by water, but are still in poverty because shipping the fuel for use is expensive.  With a solar powered boat, they would only have to worry about changing batteries every so often and the basic upkeep. 

There are several places in the world where increased accessibility has resulted in an economic boom for a place that once was just a little out of the way village.


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Vikrant said:
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Petroleum is becoming an expensive commodity for every country other than those who produce it in abundance. So looking for more sustainable source of energy has become top priority for a number of countries including India. India is heavily invested in solar technology because as you rightly pointed out it reduces the cost of powering industrial infrastructure. There are air-ports in India that are powered by solar energy. There are multiple solar farms under construction in India at the moment.


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## cnm (Nov 27, 2016)

If one has the power to separate hydrogen and oxygen one has ample power for the submarine. In any case, the oxygen would be needed to combine with the hydrogen in power production. Lose, lose.


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## Freewill (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> You know, with all the technology we have today, there should be a safe way to harness the hydrogen and make it safe.
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> Besides..................making your own power from the very water you are traveling through would be the ultimate green vehicle.
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> I mean................companies have made hydrogen powered cars, why can't they make subs?


Power in has to be less than power out.  I don't believe this is possible using oxygen generators.  Why not just use a reactor?


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## Freewill (Nov 27, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Vikrant said:
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Have you bought batteries lately?  Not exactly what I would call cheap.


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

Freewill said:


> ABikerSailor said:
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You cannot use a nuclear reactor for a ferry boat  But yes, for a submarine, perhaps nuclear reactor would be the best source of energy.


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## Vikrant (Nov 27, 2016)

cnm said:


> If one has the power to separate hydrogen and oxygen one has ample power for the submarine. In any case, the oxygen would be needed to combine with the hydrogen in power production. Lose, lose.



For large vessels like submarines and surface vessels like aircraft carriers, nuclear reactor is an ideal source of energy. As far as submarines are concerned, since they are submerged for the major part of their deployment, use of solar power is out of question. May be in the future, with the advancement in solar technology, we may see solar powered surface vessels like air craft carriers. But for now, nuclear reactor is the best source of energy for large sea vessels.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

Freewill said:


> ABikerSailor said:
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> > You know, with all the technology we have today, there should be a safe way to harness the hydrogen and make it safe.
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You're not making any sense.  And the oxygen generating process that the scientist showed on the television didn't take that much power.

By the way, you wouldn't be using an oxygen generator to make power, you would be using the resulting HYDROGEN that comes from generating oxygen, and hydrogen is a pretty decent type of fuel for making energy. 

And.....................got news for you..................just about every U.S. Navy submarine has a reactor for power. 

The only reason I brought up the hydrogen thing is because of what I'd seen on a documentary on subs.


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> The Great Goose said:
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 Actually it means quite a bit.
Speed indicates power. You ever try and use a trolling motor on a windy day?
   That thing will catch the wind like a mofo!


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## jon_berzerk (Nov 28, 2016)

MS PlanetSolar Turanor: World's Largest Solar-Powered Boat Docks in NYC


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

jon_berzerk said:


> MS PlanetSolar Turanor: World's Largest Solar-Powered Boat Docks in NYC



It's big, it's ugly, and it doesn't have squat for deck space.  

I still kinda like it though.


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## jon_berzerk (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> jon_berzerk said:
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i like it 

there are some pictures on the link of the cabin 

hard to fish from though


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

jon_berzerk said:


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  Put some plexiglass over the panels and you'd have plenty of deck space.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


> jon_berzerk said:
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Maybe on the main part of the boat, but where they overhang the body, I'd be really leery about walking out there. 

Wonder how fast this one can go though, and what kind of propulsion system it has?


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## jon_berzerk (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


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i dont have to time to investigate now 

but in this video 

it makes a wake 

www.planetsolar.org


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


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  If you were to build it based on a pleasure/fishing boat platform you could easily do it. Of course you'd sacrifice some speed but who cares. Hell,sailboats only cruz at around 9 knots.


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## jon_berzerk (Nov 28, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


> ABikerSailor said:
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when i am fishing walleye 

i move along a at 1 or 1.5 mph


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


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Depends on the type of sailboat.  Speed record currently is around 75 mph.

In pictures: The eight fastest sailboats in the world

If you have one of those with the rigid sails made of carbon fiber, they can be quite quick.


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


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   Well yeah but thats hardly a pleasure boat or a fishing boat.
Your average sailing yacht cruises around 9 or 10 knots.
  And while they obviously can go faster in the right conditions thats a general average.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


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Just bustin' your chops dude.  Saw a documentary on speedy things the other day and one of those really fast sailboats was on it.  Amazing to watch them slice through the water like they had engines.


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


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   Yeah...I love watching The America's Cup.
Those things fly!!!


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## Freewill (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> Freewill said:
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Ok, very simply, in order to make power for a submarine it either would have to be near inexhaustable, such as nuclear reactor or you would need to make at least as much energy as it took to make the energy. Thus it is not possible to make Hydrogen and then "burn" it to make energy to make Hydrogen because no process is 100 percent efficient.  Now using a hydrogen generator on something like a sail boat with solar panels makes sense.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 28, 2016)

Freewill said:


> ABikerSailor said:
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Actually, the very first submarines burned diesel and used electric batteries.  They didn't become nuclear powered until Adm. Rickover and his building of the nuke program.  The first one was the USS Nautilus. 

The question is........how much hydrogen do you have to burn to power a small sub, and would it be feasible to power it from the leftover hydrogen from making oxygen?  THOSE are the questions you have to ask yourself first.  And......how much energy is generated from a cubic foot of hydrogen?


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## Vikrant (Nov 28, 2016)

jon_berzerk said:


> MS PlanetSolar Turanor: World's Largest Solar-Powered Boat Docks in NYC



This design is missing one simple requirement: usability.


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## cnm (Nov 28, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> But for now, nuclear reactor is the best source of energy for large sea vessels.


Banned here.


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## Vikrant (Nov 28, 2016)

cnm said:


> Vikrant said:
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Where?


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## cnm (Nov 28, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


> By the way, you wouldn't be using an oxygen generator to make power, you would be using the resulting HYDROGEN that comes from generating oxygen, and hydrogen is a pretty decent type of fuel for making energy.


Because the energy recovered from recombining the separated oxygen and hydrogen is less than the energy it took to separate it.


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## cnm (Nov 28, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> Where?


Aotearoa.


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## Vikrant (Nov 28, 2016)

cnm said:


> Vikrant said:
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I see  You are a Kiwi  

As far as India is concerned, miniaturized nuclear reactors are a new norm for powering their SSBNs and aircraft carriers.


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## cnm (Nov 28, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> I see  You are a Kiwi
> As far as India is concerned, miniaturized nuclear reactors are a new norm for powering their SSBNs and aircraft carriers.


Yes. Ignoring externalities for short term gains as well as perceived pride and prestige.


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## Vikrant (Nov 28, 2016)

cnm said:


> Vikrant said:
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It has more to do with survival than pride and prestige.


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## HereWeGoAgain (Nov 28, 2016)

cnm said:


> Vikrant said:
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> > But for now, nuclear reactor is the best source of energy for large sea vessels.
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 Thankfully not in America. Our subs and our aircraft carriers can roam the seas for years at a time without refuel.


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## Vikrant (Nov 28, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


> cnm said:
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As of today, there is nothing more efficient than nuclear reactors when it comes to powering large sea vessels.


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 29, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> HereWeGoAgain said:
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Interestingly enough, this new sub that the US just built (the one on the documentary) has brand new technology that allows it to never have to be refueled, the core will last the life of the sub (figured to be about 35 years).  

Most reactors prior to this had to have long shipyard periods to refuel the reactor every 2 to 5 years.


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## esthermoon (Nov 29, 2016)

Wow! Indian's technology is on the rise!


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## ABikerSailor (Nov 30, 2016)

esthermoon said:


> Wow! Indian's technology is on the rise!



Actually, India didn't develop the technology that is used to make the boat, they are just the ones that are smart enough to avail themselves of it.


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## Vikrant (Dec 1, 2016)

ABikerSailor said:


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Your statement is inaccurate. India is among one of the handful countries that lead in the field of solar panel manufacturing. 

Here is the website of TATA Power Solar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in India. 

India's largest integrated solar player - Tata Power Solar


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## Vikrant (Dec 1, 2016)

esthermoon said:


> Wow! Indian's technology is on the rise!



Vietnam is welcome to contact this Indian company; they will help Vietnam with its solar panel needs:

India's largest integrated solar player - Tata Power Solar


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## ABikerSailor (Dec 2, 2016)

Vikrant said:


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Thank you for the correction.  I was under the impression that solar technology was developed in America originally, and India was simply taking advantage of the research to build their stuff.


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## cnm (Dec 3, 2016)

HereWeGoAgain said:


> Thankfully not in America. Our subs and our aircraft carriers can roam the seas for years at a time without refuel.


But without calling here.


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## cnm (Dec 3, 2016)

Vikrant said:


> As of today, there is nothing more efficient than nuclear reactors when it comes to powering large sea vessels.


There is no point in taking externalities into account.


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