Transforming sailing, with solar energy
The Mit Sailing Pavilion recently organized a completely different marine ship: a prototype of an electric solar boat developed by James ’89, the founder of the MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT). The pavilion is visited on a sizzling, sunny day at the end of July to offer students from the SEVT, the Mit Edgerton Center, Mit Sea Grant and the wider community an inside look to the anita, named after his deceased wife.
Becoming fascination for solar energy started at the age of 10, when he grabbed a solar chip on a “hippie-like” conference in his hometown of Arlington, Massachusetts. “My eyes just illuminated,” he says. He built his first solar electric vehicle in high school, formed from cardboard and wood (primarily on the Massachusetts Science Fair from 1984), and continued his journey in MIT and founded Sevt in 1986. It was through Sevt that he met his wife and lifelong business partner, Anita Rajan ’90. Together they founded two companies in the room for solar electric and hybrid vehicles and launched a Solar Electric Boat Company in 2022.
On the Charles River Nam, visitors for short journeys on Anita, including a group of current SEVT students who peppered him with questions. The 20-foot pontoon boat, only 12 feet wide and 7 feet long, is made of carbon fiber composites, photovoltaic cells of some crystalline sun sources and lithium iron phosphate battery cells. It ultimately suggests that the prototype applications can have such as mini-ferry boats and water taxis.
With warmth and humor, he pulled parallels between the components and mechanics of the boat and that of the solar posts that the students build. “It’s fun! If you think about all the things you do, it’s all the same,” he told them, “optimize all the different systems and let them work.” He also explained the design reasons that are unique for boat applications, such as refining the hull shape for efficiency and maneuverability in variable water and wind conditions, and the crucial importance of protecting wiring and controls against open water and condensate.
“Seeing Anita in all his glory was super cool,” says Nicole Lin, vice -captain of SEVT. “When I first saw it, I was able to immediately assign the different parts of the solar car to the marine counterparts, which was amazing to see how far I got as an engineer at SEVT. James also explained the boat with the conditions for solar cars, while he ended up in his experience with solar cars for his sun boats.
Over the years, the Werdenens are fervent supporters of SEVT and the Edgon Center, so the visit was partly a way to pay it to pay for it. “There are many connections,” he says. He is still impressed by the fact that Harold “Doc” Edgerton, after he learned about his interest in building solar posts, achieved a laboratory room for him to use in Building 20 – as a first -year student. And a few years ago, when they became interested in maritime ships, he tapped Zee-Subsidy Education Manager Drewett for a 90-minute Whiteboard lecture, “mit Fire-Hose Style” on Hydrodynamics. “It was great!” he says.
