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Wind is a non-starter because, well, if you want to use wind power, get a sailboat! Right?

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The highest density commercial solar cell has a capacity of 174W/m² or ~16W/ft². Assume this is feasible output, even though we only receive 137 W/m² at the equator and 96 W/m2 at 40 degrees latitude. For our 147-kW motor we would need 845 m² (9,092 ft²) of panels. At most a 70-ft yacht would have less than 1,000 ft² of surface area, so you can see why most boats using solar have hybrid diesel-electric propulsion systems.

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People reading this stuff are seized by the vision and write things like, "This is awesome. Let’s get electric passenger airplanes as soon as possible." Or boats. Or cars.

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The reality (do the math yourself) is that even with solar panels at 100% solar-conversion efficiency it isn't feasible -- for practical purposes -- to fully power a trawler only with a solar platform that is sized within the hull's boundary. It doesn't compute. Solar is best as a supplemental charging system for the boat's batteries.

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[[Category:ElectricalGenerationSolar]]

[[Category:ElectricalStorageSystems]]