SEA LEGS; POINT ABSORBER WAVE ENERGY CONVERTER DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT, TESTING AND ANALYSIS. IS IT POSSIBLE TO PRODUCE A RELATIVE SCALE DEVICE TO POWER ON-BOARD SYSTEMS ON A SMALL LIVE ABOARD YACHT

This report details the design, development, fabrication, implementation and testing of a custom designed renewable energy device for the purposes of being connected to the hull of a small scale vessel (~35ft) to produce electrical and mechanical power to supplement or negate the need for generators powering Bilge pumps or on-board Electrical Systems. The device is in the form of an articulated arm that hangs over the side of the vessel, perpendicular to the hull, with a float on the end which heaves with the waves and articulates with the roll of the vessel, in turn actuating a linear generator or mechanical bilge pump. The Marine Renewable Energy Industry is relativity new in the energy market. A significantly unexploited possibility of the industry is the development of relativity small scale devices for the purpose of powering on-board systems on a vessel while shore-power is unavailable. The lack of small scale wave energy converters that are financially viable for private use makes this project unique in application and design. This application would negate the need for constantly using on-board diesel generators for on-board power which is becoming increasingly more expensive. There is also the opportunity to scale up the developed device to power large vessels such as container ships and cruise vessels. The Device will be fabricated by the author of this report in a private workshop. Testing will be undertaken in the Plymouth University Ocean Basin, electrical power output from the device will be recorded with a data logger, wave gauges will measure the incoming and resultant waves and a video tracking system will map the movements of devices articulated joint. The tests will measure the device in varying wave heights and produce a power matrix to show performance in given sea states. The power matrix will be cross referenced with average sea states in areas where a small yacht could be moored to gauge whether the device would produce enough power to charge on-board batteries. It will be hypothesized and investigated as to weather in the current financial market; it is a more viable business model to develop large numbers of small scale devices rather than small numbers of large scale devices which are currently only viable with government subsidy