Solar Powered Electric Boat

Overview

A multi-hull catamaran solar boat designed and built to compete at the Solar Regatta in Sacramento. The team handled everything from hull layup to drivetrain integration on a tight student budget.

What I worked on

• Designed and welded a steel motor mount for a 10 HP electric motor, optimizing propeller shaft alignment for maximum thrust in the catamaran.
• Fabricated fiberglass hull structures using a sectional modular design with foam templates and a 2-layer epoxy / fiberglass composite layup.
• Conducted buoyancy validation testing before competition.
• Competed at Solar Regatta in Sacramento, achieving 15 to 20 mph operational speed in on-water trials.

Takeaways

The boat was my first taste of multidisciplinary engineering on water. It cemented how much real engineering happens at the interfaces between systems.