Solar and wind energy are the way to Go

     When you are out on the sea, you want to be self-sufficient as much as possible. You don't want to have to go out of your way to have to purchase ever more expensive fuel to meet your energy needs.

The average catamaran needs more energy than ever before because of higher demands for electricity for electronic equipment, including radar, night illumination, navigation equipment, computers, and smartphones.

     Some people generate electricity through the diesel engine. It should go without saying that this expensive, but this type of engine is also noisy, stinky, and dirty. Many people solve this problem by using wind energy and solar panels. Because we already need solar panels and wind turbines anyway to generate electricity, we can go one step further and use an electric motor instead of a diesel engine.

    We are lucky to live in our times because we actually have a very realistic choice. Right now, the purchase price of an electric motor is only slightly higher than that of a comparable diesel engine. But, and this is important, an electric motor has no moving parts that can break down and need maintenance, including lubrication and replacement every few hundred or thousand kilometers. This is an ongoing cost that only gets more expensive.

     What we need to implement this idea is to generate electric energy in a variety of ways. The most well known method is solar energy using solar panels. Another popular method is wind energy using wind turbines. But what is less known are energy generation by letting the engine turn while sailing. This will slow down the cat by 5-10% but you will get charged batteries. That is the next step: better and more efficient batteries.