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Old 06-01-2008, 02:58 PM   #21 (permalink)
jowey
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GurnBlanston View Post
Well, they developed and it's ready for consumer production, a method in which photovoltaic material comes off a press like paper or fabric. It's strong but I think it would still need to be reinforced. However, a craft the size of a sailboat not being powered by the sun primarily wouldn't need that large of a surface area. Besides, the build up of salt on the surface of the panels would probably cause a lot of problems real quick.

BTW: they do have a turbine now that spins with any little bit of wind from any direction without too much drag. It's made for high rises and are designed to harness the crazy wind currents in a Metro area like NY or Boston.
Turby
Aerotecture

Those helix designs are cool .....
I suspected that they would cause a problem with the air flow if they were on the deck of a sail boat, not to mention be in the way. Watch out for that starboard tack.....

Layered woven fabric - salt would be a problem, forgot about that, it gets everywhere. Wonder if salt water could be part of the power production solution, a process not requiring consumption of additional manufactured materials.
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