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Jonathan Crinion skippers Friends of the Earth – a state of the art yacht sailing to promote The Big Ask campaign. All the instruments on board are powered by the sun.
The system was developed by Propellerworks, an engineering company and one of our sponsors. The panels’ brand name is Solara – available in the UK.
No, they can be used for any application you wish. We picked ones that were flexible because they have to follow the contours of the boat deck and coach roof. My 4 solar panels produce a total of 226 amps power.
There are 7 batteries on board:
The lights on the boat are all LED (light emitting diodes). They use very little energy to produce light and don’t need replacing.
Absolutely. Although at the moment you can do about 500 miles on a tank of diesel, but you won’t go that far on batteries. Technology needs to develop a little bit.
Maybe the electric motor could be like hybrid cars, where you can use either fuel or electric as appropriate. That would work!
Jonathan Crinion
So far their response has been very positive. Contrary to popular belief, most sailors are quite frugal – they’re interested in any way that they can save money.
A lot of yachts already have wind turbines to power their systems. This alternative is great if you sail around the UK, but I’m sailing south through the doldrums where it’s sunny and there’s not always much wind.
It’s about finding the right solution for your situation
Jonathan Crinion
Because we have the technology, we have the solutions to prevent climate change. They just have to be applied.
And a political framework around climate change creates accountability from one government to the next. Without it, CO2 emissions will continue to increase because there’s no incentive to reduce them.
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Images © Flat33 / Friends of the Earth
