
Originally I was going to continue from the last article by further analyzing Ed and Andy’s experiences with installing Watt & Sea hydrogenerators and removing their diesel generators.
But then I realized that it would be far more interesting to widen the mission to look at the overall practicality of replacing the generation of electricity from diesel fuel (main engine or separate generator) with renewables, particularly since there are so many claims being made out there that are based on pretengineering at best.
On the other hand, there’s no question that big advances have been made in renewables and batteries, which make replacing a diesel generator, or never installing one in the first place, far more practical than it was even a few years ago.
And we have Andy and Ed’s successes in getting rid of their generators after installing renewables to inspire us, too.
I plan to focus on boats that use more than 200 Ah at 12 volts (2.4 kWh) a day, (most live-aboard cruisers these days) since Eric has already done an excellent article on solar solutions for boats with lower needs.
Let’s dig in: