Autonomous Naval Surface Vehicle for Energy Generation in Open Seas

Environmental awareness is dictating the use of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. Solar energy has become a serious alternative. Open seas and mobility constitute a very advantageous combination. The exemption from the costs of land acquisition and preparation is a clear advantage for using open seas to deploy solar. The mobility of the solar system ensures that it is less sensitive to the fluctuations of the weather than for fixed on land deployments. Autonomous naval surface vehicles are the ideal instrument to deploy solar in open seas. Dubbed with on-ship energy storage, it constitutes a complete solution for energy harvesting in open seas. This paper is presenting the challenges and tradeoffs related to the design of an autonomous solar boat with compressed air energy storage (CAES).