When you leave a dock behind for months at a time, electricity quickly becomes THE topic. On Pélican, we didn't improvise : it was all worked out before the big departure — batteries, solar, watermaker — so we'd never really have to worry about it.
Three lithium batteries, and we don't think about it anymore
The system runs on three Victron Smart LiFePO4 batteries, 330 Ah each, just under 1,000 Ah in total. In practice, that means running the fridge, the freezer, all the navigation electronics and the watermaker without really counting.
Keeping an eye on everything, even remotely
We monitor it all with a Victron Cerbo GX paired with a GX Touch screen. State of charge, solar output, real-time consumption : we can see it all from the boat, but also remotely, which is more reassuring than you'd think when you're not on board.
9 solar panels, two separate arrays
The solar setup is split into two groups : three 475 Wp panels on the aft davits (with two Victron MPPT controllers, a 150/70 and a 150/35), and six 160 Wp panels on the roof, managed by two 150/45 MPPTs. That's a bit over 2,400 W installed — plenty to recharge the batteries during the day, even under a not-quite-clear sky.
105 litres of fresh water an hour, without thinking about it
The watermaker, an Aquabase ESW‑901, turns seawater into fresh water at 105 litres an hour, at 12V, with an automatic flush — a detail that matters more than you'd think, precisely because you never have to think about it. We can stay for weeks at a remote anchorage without ever having to look for a water source.
The generator ? It's gathering dust
There is a small portable generator on board, for truly exceptional cases. But in practice we almost never use it : solar and batteries are enough.
And staying in touch
We've also got a Starlink Mini (with its own dedicated Victron converter) and a PredictWind DataHub for the boat's connectivity. Not strictly essential for electrical self-sufficiency, but it makes a real difference for weather routing and staying in touch.
The boat asks for almost nothing, and depends on no one.