Simon Angus wanted a boat that he could move easily to a destination, so he built a modular 40-foot all-carbon electrically propelled catamaran. The twin-hulled vessel could be broken down to fit in a shipping container and be re-assembled with the use of a crane.
His goal for the boat was to make as self-sufficient as possible so he equipped it with 16 110-watt semi-flexible solar panels. “On day one, they were great and we were generating a huge amount of power,” says Angus.
After a year, however, the power output dropped to 60% to 70%. “The biggest issue with semi-flex panels as micro-cracking,” he says. “It’s a crack you can’t see and once the cell cracks, there’s a reduction in the current the cell can produce. When you put cells in a series, the amount of current produced is determined by the lowest performing cell.”
An engineer for a petroleum refinery, Angus says he knew nothing about solar panels at the time. Basically, there are two types, the rigid traditional units you see on top of houses and some boats or in huge farms on metallic frames. There are also flexible panels, but those have proven incapable of standing up to the elements.
“We basically set out to solve all those problems,” says Angus, the CEO and founder of Open Waters Solar, which is based in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.
He and his team have figured out how to encapsulate solar panels in clear composites that protect them still let the panels absorb the sun’s rays to store their energy.
“We buy Maxeon solar cells and solder them together with robotics,” says Angus. “Then we encapsulate them into the fiberglass. The panels can bend, but the fiberglass maintains its integrity and does allow the cells to crack.”
During the panel development, Angus says the biggest challenge was arriving at the right combination of laminate and resin. For assistance, he consulted the Composites Knowledge Network at the University of British Columbia and the professor told Angus, “The aerospace guys aren’t doing what you’re doing.”
Open Waters Solar has quickly garnered attention from companies in the sail and powerboat realms who want to build environmentally friendly boats. “The response has been out of this world,” says Angus. “I have a stack of business cards 12” long from trade shows I went to last year that I haven’t called back because we don’t have the production capacity, yet.”
One early project is an 80-foot catamaran for Archiplego Yachts that Open Waters Solar is supplying 23 kW of power with panels. “The deck we’re putting them on is the helipad,” says Angus.
The company has also recently completed a 3.2 kW solar system on a 48-foot hybrid motoryacht for Sirena Marine. The solar system will provide the power for the onboard HVAC systems, the galley, water heating and more.
Open Waters Solar offers a 115-watt and 170-watt composite solar panels and prices start at $698 and $1,031, respectively, which Angus says is competitive with other high end flexible panels.
“Because our panels are so durable and don’t crack, we can reliably put them in high-voltage strings and efficiently charge the batteries,” says Angus.
