Hybrid electric catamaran for inter-island sea activities

Abstract

The weight of a catamaran boat floats on two hulls. This allows each hull to be slimmer and shallower in cross-section than the single hull of an equivalent mono-hull, so it has less weight, small draught, less water resistance, much more deck area for passengers or marine activities, stable and less power usage. Especially, if it powered by hybrid energy (diesel and solar), then it could be more economical because of relentless rise in oil prices in the world. The increasing of fossil’s fuel oil prices urges people to try to complement a part of it with alternative energy such as solar energy using photovoltaic (PV) cells which could power the electric motors (E-motor) as the prime mover of the boat. Powering boats by hybrid energy in tropical countries like Indonesia where solar energy is freely available on average for six to eight hours a day could reduce operational cost and at the same time reduce the carbon emission. In addition, the low noise generated by the E-motor is more suited to passengers and less likely to frighten fishes during the catching operation. The major drawback of this technology is that it needs more investment because of high cost of PV system, but it could be beneficial over a long period. In term of operation the boat can be powered by solar energy directly and during night time the power can be supplemented from batteries charged during the day by solar energy. The hybrid technology using for powering catamaran boats would be future potential especially for daily inter-island sea activities.