Solar Sailing Serendiep (WHY2025)

Serendiep is a 42m inland cargo barge with a theatre, a fablab and an art/science labyrinth on board. It's being converted to electric propulsion using second hand EV parts and hardware from openinverter. The ultimate goal is to harvest all the energy needed from solar panels mounted on the hatches covering the cargo hold. Sailing is among the most efficient modes of cargo transport. Yet in the much needed transition away from fossil it seems to be falling behind other sectors. We set ourselves the challenge to be sailing electrically, to harvest the energy needed on the ship itself, and to do all this with open tech and second hand parts, taking advantage of an upcoming category of e-waste and achieving a minimal budget as a result. In this talk we'll present a rundown of all the hurdles on the way, how they were overcome or which consequences they have for thoroughly low impact transport. Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ about this event: https://program.why2025.org/why2025/talk/JALJPD/