Hydro-Regeneration
Harnessing water flow over freewheel propellers to recharge battery banks during open-water passage making under sail.
Recuperating Energy Under Canvas
For sailing vessels underway under canvas, the propeller can be uncoupled and allowed to freewheel. By applying precise electronic control through our hybrid drive, energy is extracted from the spinning propeller shaft and fed back into the battery bank.
While standard fixed propellers are not optimised specifically for hydro-generation, a standard marine propeller still generates valuable energy reserves on extended ocean passages.
Hydrodynamic Drag: Generating power induces minor additional hull drag. On trade-wind passages near hull speed, the impact on velocity is negligible. If minimising hull drag is paramount during light-wind sailing, hydro-regeneration can be turned off via the controller interface.
Sea Trial Data: Power generated (watts) versus vessel speed under sail.
Hydro-Regeneration Demonstration
Watch a live sea trial demonstration showing our parallel hybrid unit actively generating charge while underway under canvas:
Analyse the overall fuel savings and engine efficiency advantages of hybrid systems.
Hybrid Efficiency →