“The pulleys clamp onto the shaft,” he says. “It delivers 200-foot pounds of torque in one second.” Grutter has the motor connected to the shaft with Brecoflex online pulleys and belts. He bought the motor through Green Shed Conversions for $4,150. “We still had to cut a 5-inch inset into the fish hold to fit the motor,” says Grutter. Now they cost $300 per kilowatt.” By comparison, Grutter’s 120-pound, 38-kW, HyPer-9 hv electric motor is small. Batteries used to cost $1,100 per kilowatt. “I have 10 144-volt batteries, five on each side. It shuts the system down if the voltage gets too high or too low.”Īfter some expensive lessons with his truck, and years of research, Grutter had a battery bank custom made in China. “It’s got a wire going to every cell, and feeds electricity to any cell that’s getting low. “The battery management system keeps all the batteries balanced,” says Grutter.
But on a 34-foot boat miles offshore, they are often deadly. If you go over or under, you can start a fire or an explosion.”įires and explosions are undesirable under the best of circumstances. “With lithium-ion batteries, each cell has to stay between 2.5 and 3.6 volts. “If you haven’t got a good BMS, you’ll ruin your batteries,” he says, putting it simply. “It’s all about battery management,” he says, and dives into a topic he has steeped himself in for years. Grutter had already converted a truck to electric power and learned some valuable lessons in the process. Working through the Electric Car Company in New York, Grutter had his 1200-pound battery bank-10, 144-volt batteries-custom made in China for around $22,000. “These blackcod aren’t coming like they used to anyway,” says Grutter. “When we put in the new engine, I took out the forward fuel tanks to make room for the batteries, and made the deck over the engine so I could take most of it up to access everything.” Grutter also shrunk his fish hold from 10,000-pound capacity to 8,000. Three years ago, Grutter repowered with a 6-cylinder, 330-hp John Deere 6068AFM85, and installed it with intentions of adding a battery bank and electric motor. “You spend 18 hours a day idling, you just slip it into gear to stretch your net out once in a while.” “Gillnetting, you’re not even using the engine most of time,” says Grutter. You have to do things yourself.” Grutter has turned his 34-foot gillnetter-longliner, the Sunbeam, into what may be the first hybrid electric fishing vessel in the United States.įive years ago, Grutter was burning diesel all day, gillnetting chum salmon and longlining blackcod and halibut. “A mechanic can cost you $100 an hour - if there’s one around. He has spent five years and about $40,000, building his own diesel-electric boat.
So does Sitka, Alaska, fisherman Fabian Grutter. These big players believe hybrid power has a lot to offer. In Europe, Siemens, Volvo-Penta and others in the marine industry are investing millions in developing hybrid diesel-electric systems for fishing vessels.
Deckhand to Boat Owner Companion Budgeting Tool.
0 kommentar(er)
