One of the things I'm starting to give more thought to is the secondary propulsion system (the engine) that we'll have aboard. My goals are to have a more efficient (greener) system and one which is as quiet as possible and that the system should meet our propulsion and battery charging needs. Here's a good read by Above The Waterline about Environmental Energy outlining some options. They are a Santa Barbara Harbor company.
I'm leaning heavily towards electric drive with a genset and solar panels. Wind and water generators are also a possibility, I'm a little down on wind generators because they make noise and water generators would only be useful part of the time (when on passage) so they don't seem to be as 'worth it' to me. I think if I were looking at wind\water I might just put that money towards extra solar or battery capacity.
Here's how the components break out and how I'll attack the research:
- Drive motor
- Diesel \ biodiesel Genset
- Solar panels & charging equipment
- Batteries