Man Tried Building a Solar-Powered Yacht That Could Run Forever. It Looks Like He May Have Succeeded
A man set sail into the European waters with a mission that would redefine future expeditions. The creator of the YouTube channel True North Yachts wanted to explore a solution that would support long-distance cruising without using fossil fuels. His goal to create something environmentally friendly in tandem with self-sufficient future travels led him to a model that might be a solution to it all. What he built was a minimalist, blacked-out monohull that looked like the iconic and fictional Batmobile but for the sea. The solar-powered explorer yacht Helios 11, in theory, could "run forever" by leveraging solar power alone. The boat has been on the sea long enough for the creator to track its performance on long-route journeys.
"After 2,500 km of Baltic winter and European rivers and canals, my self-built solar boat has finally reached France," the YouTuber wrote in the caption. "In this episode, I break down what I’ve learned about long-distance solar cruising, system safety, energy management, and what it’s really like to travel across a continent on a fully electric vessel," he explained. Keeping efficiency in the forefront, the design stepped away from that of a traditional boat. The yacht Helios 11 had no mast or tower and sail to unhurl on expeditions. It contained ultra-low windage with solar panel sheets over its roof. The sleek boat model is powered by a 6kW electric motor, along with up to 3,000 watts of energy that is produced by the solar panels on the roof during peak sun hours.
According to the expeditioner, the boat proved to be more efficient than he had anticipated. Not just in the summer, but it propelled him even in cloudy conditions, making him think seriously about the potential of the boat. However, the experiment also highlighted the limits of the designs and potential add-ons that can fill the gap. Relying entirely on solar power can be tricky, and the expeditioner had a first-hand experience with its drawbacks. One night in the middle of his journey on the Nordic archipelago, he was faced with a challenging situation after he pushed the system too far. Suddenly, at an anchorage, the battery ran flat, hitting zero and giving no propulsion.
"But I'm happy I pushed the system too far. Then I could experience what really happens when you go to zero battery," he said in the video. "If this would have happened in the open sea, we take the archipelago as an example here as a moderate danger. I would have simply anchored. If it's too deep, I would let the wind take me somewhere where I can anchor," he added. The creator emphasized that having an emergency sail is important to deal with tricky situations like these. "If the wind takes me in the wrong direction, I would lift up my backup sail and, uh, try to get somewhere," he explained. The lessons from this expedition gave him valuable insights that he would apply to his future projects, like the Halo 13 and the larger Helios 22.
He aims to add proper sails and backup petrol engines and even deployable wind turbines, which would continuously generate storms to navigate his next boat model. Helios 11 can be considered a prototype that will now help the researcher use as a base for his upcoming project. "From real-world solar performance to handling black-hull heat, navigation challenges, upgrades, and lessons from the 'batboat' design, this is a grounded look at how a DIY solar yacht actually performs on extended journeys," he wrote.
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