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fuel cells

J

jimb522

New member
Has anybody any opinions or experience with fuel cell power generators. I am toying with the idea of getting one to supplement my solar cells, and to avoid having to carry a Honda generator, since my boat has no inboard engine. You could actually purchase a sizeable diesel generator for the price of an EFOY fuel cell. BUt I cant carry the weight, so that isnt an option.
Jim
 
I heard second hand about a sportboat that used fuel cells, if I recall the fuel cell unit was OK but there were issues with the charge controller between the cell and the battery. Probably an outfit like Gensun or our own solosailor might be able to advise.

These guys seem to make an integrated unit.

http://www.efoy-comfort.com/installation-your-boat
 
Efoy fuel cell

They work quite well. Local experience in the 2014 transpac: Elise incorporated a unit into her Exp 27 and powered autopilots all the way to Hawaii with no power issues. She also had a solar panel but it was obscured from the sun a good fraction of the time as a bird took up residence on the solar panel for and extended free passage to Kauai. Nathalie wasn't so hungry or so angry as to eat or shoo the bird away. The panel was coated in a white glaze upon arrival. I had the opportunity to see the unit in action. The unit monitors battery condition and has the smarts to switch on and start charging when required. Elise had the unit tied into the on boat battery monitor / charge controller. You have to vent the c02 produced overboard.

In 2012 Gerome, on his Mini 6.5 , used one over the entire trip to Kauai and reported no issues.

They are used on many of the vessels in the 2015 mini transat, now in progress.
 
my friend owns a large racing boat in Southern California and has an EFOY for sale. he switched to lithium's and a big alternator and doesn't need it. i believe it's a 1600 or 1800w unit, it was 4 grand new i believe. he has several accessories that go with it. i believe he wanted 1500. someone in SSS needs to score this. if you message me, i'll pass along his contact info. unit is in Newport Beach, CA uninstalled in his garage. came off the Rogers 46 Varuna

jimb522, from your other post it sounds like you have a boat with no inboard diesel and strictly solar for charing. guessing it's a light weight small boat. i think the fuel cell may be the call for you. the entire Mini fleet in Europe uses them. they all swithc to hydro's for Class 40 and bigger. knowing what i know now, i would have re-allocated money towards a fuel cell to supplement the solar on my moore 24 in 2012 shtp.
 
Last edited:
solosailor said:
Hmmmm.... 25lbs and provides 180Ah, single use. Doesn't sound very good compared to a 75-100W solar panel.
Click to expand...

Metal-air batteries are not 'there' yet, but they are promising. But don't hold your breath....

"...it could be a while before the batteries are used in cars. Metal-air batteries are an intriguing technology for cars because they have the potential to store three or four times as much electricity as lithium-ion ones, which could extend vehicle range or make it possible to use smaller, cheaper battery packs..."

http://www.technologyreview.com/new...hargeable-metal-air-batteries-head-to-market/
 
jimb522 said:
Has anybody any opinions or experience with fuel cell power generators. I am toying with the idea of getting one to supplement my solar cells, and to avoid having to carry a Honda generator, since my boat has no inboard engine. You could actually purchase a sizeable diesel generator for the price of an EFOY fuel cell. BUt I cant carry the weight, so that isnt an option.
Jim
Click to expand...


Jim,

glad you could put your hand on a fuel cell. I have used them offshore since 2011 and never looked back. I am planning another SHTP next summer and will also have one on the boat.
If you have any questions, feel free to call me. I will definitely be able to help (wiring for example, in the case that you have 2 batteries, the fuel cell is designed to only sense and charge one battery at a time so you will need to make a wiring harness - fairly simple, with a toggle switch).

Cheers

Jerome 310-500-6216
 
Jerome,
Thank you for the response. What size fuel cell do you use and what real world rate of charge have you been able to get with it? Or put another way, what is the maximum rate of draw on the battery that the fuel cell can keep up with while maintaining a full charge? Thanks.
Jim
 
Jim, I was using the smallest model, which has been discontinued. The output was (I believe) 900 Watts, therefore, on a 12 volts system about 3ampH. This was sufficient. Besides, the wiring harness was very short (small boat) so I can say that I was loosing much due to cable length. After working my power budget, the worse case scenario was about 4.5ampH (night, displays on, backlights, autopilot)...With a 2x105amp battery bank, at a rate of let's say 2ampH draw, I could run 3 days to run both batteries down (rough estimate, taken into account that you can never use an AGM to 100% of its capacity). At the end, you need to have a good understanding of your power consumption. That is easy: you can use the manuals of each device on your boat (including red/white cabin lights because the draw is different), or use a battery monitor (or an Amp reader) to test each instruments. Once you know what you will be using, compare it to the output of your fuel cell (not sure which model you purchased). The objective is to combine the fuel cell with a 100Watts (or 85 watts) solar panel, and you will definitely be covered for the race. In 2012, I never had to use battery # 2.

I remember about using 1.5 cartridge for the race, which is about 15 liters of methanol (15 liters = 15 kgs = 33lbs btw :).
The fuel cell uses 1.1liter per 100Ah. The maths actually add up (although double check, I am not the best at maths):
That is basically 1,363 Amp used for 15 liters of fuel. Over 14 days, that is an average of 4AmpH.
This is an average. I am pretty sure I used 70% of the fuel during the first week (no sun). There was also times where I could have used more considering my autopilot draws a little more than 4amp alone sometimes.

Hope that helps. Not sure I was able to answer correctly.

Cheers

Jerome
 
jerome,
Thank you so much. You told me exactly what I need to know, and more importantly gave me a real world idea of how much methanol I need to transport. Thanks again. If you are at the power management seminar on November 12th, I will look forward to meeting you in person.
Jim
 
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