Whilst we wait for the weather to stop messing around so that we can start rowing, we thought it was worth sharing a series with info on ’What do you need to row across an ocean??’🤓
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So here is the first episode, all about power!
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Ocean rowers need power for drinking water, steering, navigation tools, lights, comms systems, and even entertainment. Many teams have been challenged previously for many reasons; not enough solar panels, not enough sun shining, inefficient or damaged panels, not monitoring battery power carefully, or simply batteries that aren’t up to the job. 👎
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To overcome these hurdles, we handed over to the electrical department… Rik and Cedric aka Sherlock Ohms and Dr Wattson! 🕵️
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Rik doesn’t even use a multimeter anymore; he just uses his tongue. He’s rated up to 3x400V AC! It’s even been said that Cedric runs purely on solar power through his scalp, with a higher efficiency than the solar panels of the ISS! 🛰️
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As the first step to address this issue of power they went BIG with the solar panels. Not only have we now got highly efficient panels, we have also got a lot of them. ☀️
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Most of the energy will come from the solar panels on the port side (left hand side if standing in the boat looking forwards), because we will be rowing East to West and in the Northern Hemisphere so the sun will be on that side. However the efficiency of these panels means that the setup works for any route. 🗺️
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All of that energy is useless without energy storage. Our boat is cutting edge, so the normal lead acid batteries simply aren’t on our shopping list. Instead we’re using an enormous lithium battery! It’s HUGE! 🔋
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Finally, the battery is monitored by a battery management system. This will be crucial – it means no more guessing, no more calculations on the back of a food packet. This tells us exactly what we have, when we have it, how much to use, etc, but it also stops the battery operating outside of its safe parameters. ⚠️
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Take a look at the video, where Gus explains all of this tech talk for you. More to come! 📹
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Currently the weather is lining up for a Monday launch – as soon as we know we’ll announce it here! 🗣️🌞