The hurricane that devastated Bermuda in early September 2019 has moved on. However it has obliterated the infrastructure in several small islands. Relief efforts are inevitably taking time to organize. Meanwhile, researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales are asking whether electric boats could supply emergency power.
How Electric Boats Could Supply Electricity with Solar Panels
The scientists at the University of New South Wales have developed a new algorithm. This could allow individual boats with solar panels to link their batteries and become mini power plants. These could for example supply electricity to emergency operating theaters in makeshift tents.
The total destruction of electricity grids is becoming a feature of the super hurricanes global warming is apparently causing. This creates a ripple effect affecting communities hundreds of miles away that may have suffered no storm damage. Their plight is bad enough because modern communities grind to a halt without electricity. However, when you no longer have a roof over your head this makes a disaster so much harder to bear.
Plakman Solar Boat by Impulse Foundation
The System Has Been Validated in Laboratory Conditions
The research team has already proved electric boats could supply electricity together in a real network. Moreover, they have operated a micro grid using four 6-volt gel batteries connected in a 24-V series. Adding to the excitement, the solar powered boat in the video is already up and running.
The author of the university report Jayashri Ravishankar believes “This novel system can substantially reduce the grid load demand. And furthermore maintain the power quality under various load / source uncertainties and fault conditions.” Therefore, they envisage using it in future to power small isolated islands under normal conditions too.
If something like this could come from Hurricane Dorian that would be a step forward. However, this would be too late for the residents of Great Abaco in the Bahamas. One rescue worker described the situation there ‘as if an atom bomb exploded’.
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Preview Image: Marsh Harbor Airport in Dorian’s Aftermath
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