Navgathi Marine Design Introduced Solar Fishing Boat

PRLog (Press Release) - Oct. 18, 2012 - Navgathi embarked on a challenging task of converting a 32 ft fishing boat locally referred to as “Pillana” in Gujarat. The challenges were numerous – stability, system design, powering and economic feasibility. The boat after conversion, currently referred to as Solar Pillana is now plying successfully in the sea near Kodinad. After the successful conversion in Gujarat, Navgathi is planning for an extensive conversion of conventional fishing boats to solar fishing boats. Boat Owners from Gujarat are really satisfied with the performance of Solar Fishing Boat.

Conversion to Solar Fishing Boat

Solar panels fitted on the top of the boat, erected on stainless steel structure, at a suitable height without compromising on normal operation and stability.
Suitably selected charge controller matching the system voltage and current limits.
Battery sizing to give sufficient backup considering the weight, cost, rating, system voltage.
Electric outboard motors of similar power as the kerosene outboards that it is replacing.
Battery shore charging unit to ensure that the batteries can be charged from AC power when the boat comes back after a fishing trip
DC- DC converter provided to give 12V plug sockets to connect the lights including one for navigation.

Benefits

The system gives the following benefits:

Drastic reduction in the fuel consumption for fishing, so much so that the returns of the Investment are in less than five years.
The system is 100% eco friendly and do not create any air or water pollution.
The outboard motor is very silent and hence friendly to the user.
Government can save on the subsidy provided for the kerosene to the fishing purposes and redirect these funds to other projects.

Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/12002594/1