The Solar Sal 24 electric boat can sail all day on sunlight alone. Sure, it has batteries on board that can be used to power the boat after dark or when there’s no sunlight, but with an eye on the natural world, 10 people can enjoy a day on the water and never burn a drop of fuel or stop. to fill Maybe it’s the perfect way to be in the water and be a part of nature, rather than speeding up the natural world and leaving a lot of pollutants in its wake.
Solar Sal is the brainchild of David Borton, a physicist and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor emeritus who has focused on solar energy since its inception. His New York state-based Sustainable Energy Systems focuses on solar energy, and Borton has now made Solar Sal Boats a division of that business. For him, an important benefit of solar energy is the chance to eliminate the use of fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.
He tells Arthur Payne of Maine Boats that he was involved in the development of several aspects of electric boats, including direct current motors, batteries, battery charge controllers, displacement hull design and solar panels. He said the Solar Sal 24 and other electric boats like it will allow sailors to enjoy simple, quiet, reliable performance while keeping their conscience clean.
A key factor for Borton was optimizing overall power efficiency through direct current channels between the panels and the motor. After combining all this with a specially designed hull, he applied for a patent and was awarded it.
Specifications and Specifications
The Solar Raft is 24′ long and 7′ 6″ wide with only a 1′ 8″ draft. Just as electric car designers focus on aerodynamic efficiency to improve range, designer Dave Gerr focused on creating a body that glides easily through water. It actually went back to the design of naphtha-powered launches from the 1800s, which had similar needs for an efficient hull form.
The boat is powered by a 3kW (4hp) electric motor from Torqueedo and it also packs 4 lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of 14kWh. The key to the electric boat is the top cover that provides space for 4 solar panels with a maximum power of 350 watts each. That’s enough to cruise all day at about 5 knots without ever touching the energy stored in the batteries. The list price for the Solar Sal is $124,500.
Why Would You Want One?
Borton is fully committed to solar energy and a sustainable planet. He lives in a house powered by solar panels on the roof of his barn. “I didn’t just want to prove something,” he says. “I wanted people to have a practical invention that was good for the environment and could be a commercial success.”
The first boats are built at Belmont Boatworks near Belfast, Maine. Owner Dan Miller has already completed two more enclosures awaiting customers. He says they’ll be ideal on lakes, especially those with speed or horsepower limitations. On many of these lakes, pontoon boats travel about 5 nautical miles all day, but they burn gas all the time. The Solar Sal 24 will be perfectly suited to appreciate the scenery, maintaining the right pace and not scaring the wildlife.
If fishing floats your boat [pun intended], you can do this all day at an ideal trolling speed of 4½ knots while consuming only photons, electrons and bait. “The silence of a ship will not hurt your prospects or disturb your neighbors,” said Arthur Paine. You also don’t have to worry about an explosion on board, which is always possible with a gasoline-powered boat.
While it’s technically a motorboat, Payne adds, “It appeals to the sailor in me that the boat is uniquely suited to a lifestyle that’s quiet, eco-friendly, and far from the cares of the coastal world because it doesn’t require a tether. it plugs into the mains for charging and is therefore fossil fuel independent. You can go exploring in the wilderness for weeks without worrying about getting to the next gas pump or filling station.
Although the solar panels charge less energy on a cloudy day, according to builder Dan Miller of Belmont Boatworks, the charging rate is enough to keep you going all day at five knots. “This is familiar territory for a sailor.” Paine says. “Another similarity with sailboats is that most of the sailors I know are known as daredevils—a nice word for a cheap word. As fossil fuels become more and more expensive, Solar Sal’s owner gets a permanent permit.”
Payne believes such boats could be used as ferries in sun-drenched places like the Bahamas. “There are many short ferry routes in the Bahamas where speed is unnecessary and workers, city dwellers and tourists commute all day. Given the ample sunlight, the Solar Sal 24 can serve this route well. And you don’t even want to think about the price of gasoline [those places].” It is the first 100% solar-powered boat approved by the US Coast Guard to carry passengers.
A bit of History
Sustainable Energy Systems has previously built a number of one-off wooden boats in various sizes. The Solar Sal 24, a fiberglass production vessel, is the next step. In addition to the prototype, two more hulls have been built and will be fitted to the customer’s specifications at Belmont Boatworks. Borton is testing a 16-foot fifth model with a 10 kW (13.5 hp) engine. Its largest is a 44-footer licensed by the Coast Guard to take paying passengers on the Hudson River from its home port in Kingston, New York. His other boats, 40-footers, made freight trips along the Erie Canal.
This is the main part of the story. In the days when the Erie Canal was a thriving channel for commerce, a popular folk song had these words: “I’ve got a mule and his name is Sal. Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal. He is a good old employee and a good old friend.”
The 40-foot-long Solar Sal Two actually carried cargo on a stretch of the original canal, the first time a solar-powered boat did a job originally assigned to mules. The name stuck. This video has interesting historical photos to accompany the lyrics.
One of Borton’s concepts, the 27-footer, built by Sam Devlin in Olympia, Washington for Borton and his son Alex, made the long passage from Alaska’s Inside Passage to Ketchikan and Glacier Bay. Although bright sunlight was rare there, Alex appreciated not having to worry about running out of gas when the sun came up.
People who own an electric car will belong to this next section. “It’s fun to watch the variables of an electric boat, mostly a mix of watt-hours of potential stored in batteries balanced with kilowatt charging from the roof. All electric boats have a “fuel gauge” in the form of a battery status indicator. It is up to the driver to choose the appropriate combination of speed and distance. Solar Sal’s intelligent operator can vary speed for distance. “With enough patience, a solar-powered ship will always make it home,” Borton said.
In Search of a Sustainable World
Perhaps nothing illustrates the difference between a sustainable world and one that depletes natural resources more quickly than a sailboat. When you’re out on the water completely dependent on the wind (or lack thereof), there’s a bond between you and nature that can’t be duplicated in any boat powered by an internal combustion engine. You’ll get there when you get there, and no amount of swearing or carefully crafted invective will advance your progress one iota. A favorite saying of sailors is “We can’t control the wind. All we can do is adjust our sails.”
There is a benefit that comes from removing the constraints imposed on us by our fossil fuel-powered environment and voluntarily submitting to the rigors of the natural world. It can give us a sense of peace and harmony and help us reconnect with nature in a way that is lacking in our everyday lives. Solar Sal 24 fits this vibe nicely.
Hat tip to Ken Anderson of Marblehead, Massachusetts who first brought this story to my attention. Ken, Art Payne and I grew up in Narragansett Bay when “I Like Ike” buttons were popular. It’s interesting how our first experiences cross over time and come back to each other.
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