Has anyone turned a TI to a solar boat?

Has anyone turned a Hobie Island to a solar boat, that is an electric boat driven by big solar panels? I am usually on my TI when the sun is shining and then the wind is often limited. So a solar boat might often seem more proper than a sailing boat. You can buy foldable solar panels which gives 180 Watt or 300 Watt. They are pretty big, but could easily be fastened on the akas. You wouldn't need a battery and could still travel for several hours. Without getting exhausted.

Tom Lachner aka watertribe name Bidgood in the everglades challenge outfitted his TI with solar panels and ran in class 6 which allows for solar power. He camped with us in the everglades a month before the race and Keith (Chekika) posted a picture of Tom's Boat somewhat in his "have you done any expedition trips" thread viewtopic.php?f=70&t=7276&start=855
Watertribe site lists his equipment as 2015 Hobie Tandem Island, Torqueedo ultralight 403 electric motor with Speed Fairing and solar charging panels. Tom told me he can go all day on solar and run the motor constantly.

Yeah, that's sweet! Foldable solar panels however would be better. With two 180 Watt panels you could drive a 350 Watt engine in full speed. You could also arrange them in serial to get 36 volt (they use to give more than 18 volt per unit) power, which interests me, as electric bikes and balance boards most often have a 36 volt engine and a 36 volt battery.

Hobie Crafte:
The setup Tom has is very good, you will still need at least one of the Torqeedo LI batteries to help manage and store energy, and I believe the computer and gps and power management system is mounted in the battery case. The lcd readout screen displays real time load and range information. The whole trick is power management, if your solar panels are pumping out 350 watts and you are only consuming 300 watts, the battery is actually charging while you go. If you need 500 watts for a burst of speed to avoid a power boat that speed burst the net drain on your battery is only 150 watts for that short period (vs the normal 500 watts without the panels), this burst as example might drain your battery to say 90%, as long as you slow down a little over the next hour or so this gives the battery time to recharge back to 100%. It all boils down to energy expended to propel the boat. Keep in mind the energy comes in many forms and they can all be combined if needed. As an example if you take your sail down and your mirage drives out and only use the electrics, they have to provide 100% of your energy needs, and doesn't last very long unless you enjoy traveling at 3mph (I certainly don't). The smart way to do it is use every energy source available to you all at the same time. The boat has a sail (an energy source, you also have mirage drives (another energy source), and you have your solar panels (another energy source), then your battery which is both energy source and energy storage.
If the moter is your only power source it has to overcome the drag of the boat (BTW the drag increases exponentially with speed), and it has to overcome the prop slippage, in other words with a 5 inch pitch prop one revolution of the prop only propels the boat say 3 inches, the rest of the energy is lost in energy overhead (you can't get that back). It takes a certain amount of energy to rotate the propeller in the water, now if you take that same motor at the same battery load and run it outside of water (in the air) it spins much faster (less energy overhead). Now lets say you start peddling while the motor is running, your legs are providing some of the energy which converts to forward motion. This eliminates some of the energy overhead so instead of one rev propelling you 3 inches, one rev propels you 5 inches (basically erasing the energy overhead), just by peddling at a moderate walking pace, it's not like your legs are doing anything anyway (lol).
Now lets introduce the sail into the equation, the sail is your most powerful energy source. With the sail out even in very light winds you are already producing apparent wind with your 3-4 mph forward motion. Why not convert that energy into something you can use for propulsion. Because of your forward motion you can now point much closer to the wind lets say 25-30 degrees instead of the normal 45 to 50 degrees off the wind (via redirecting apparent wind). Bottom line if you don't peddle or use your sail your solar panels propel the boat at 3mph, by combining all your available power sources and using them all at the same time by using any available wind to the best ouf your sailing ability, you can concievably cruise around all day long at 6-7 mph running just off your solar panels.
Welcome to the tri-power club.
FE

I have a cheap Minn Kota engine with a top effect of 350W. As far as I remember it is like two strong athletes or three more normal men. It seems to me that the speed should be at least 7 miles per hour, which isn't that low. Sure it drains the batteries if you only have small solar panels, but with 360 Watt solar panels you won't drain the batteries. You can keep that speed.

If you are travelling close to land at places where you haven't been too many times you will not get bored easily. And if you are travelling upstreams you sure will appreciate some extra power from an electric engine, even if the speed is unimpressive.

Or five old guys like me (lol).
I like your analogy, and I think you pretty accurate with your assessment. With my twin honda 2.3 engines running at just above idle, with no sails or wind and not peddling, the motors propel the boat to 6 mph. Thats the setting I typically lock my throttles at for the day. I determined that each motor is delivering around 3/4 hp ea or 1.5 hp total.
If I raise the motors and have two strong peddlers, they can maintain around 6 mph (no sails, just mirage drives) on fairly flat water, really light wind. This is all great but we get tired out in a mile or two. My physical ability is limited (I'm no athelete by any stretch of the imagination). However I am willing and able to pedal my boat to assist in it's propulsion (within the limits of my own ability). If I was depending on my own physical abilities alone (just me peddling for say ten hrs). My boat would be averaging maybe 2-3 mph, if you have 15 miles to go, that makes for a really long day.
I know everyone else sticks their nose up at us about adding supplimental propulsion, but my feelings are just by adding either a hybrid gas or electric propulsion device to the boat changes the equation in my mind. Going your 15 miles turns from an extremely physical endurance ride that your not likely to be able to repeat the next day, especially here in hot and sunny Florida where heat exhaustion is a real risk. Turns your day into a pleasant experience, even in Florida's extreme temps if you have a nice breeze on you makes all the difference in the world. And if you knee goes out like mine does once in a while you can still get home.
Then if the wind picks up you can sail as well when you can (which is not often here).
I'm no hard core man vs sea hardcore sailer. But I am also practical and know what my own physical abilities are.
My feeling is with a supplimental propulsion system, you will use your boat much more and your not killing yourself physically just to get somewhere (or get home)
I see no downside here, of course if you get great wind just put it all up and sail, you have the best of all worlds in my opinion.
FE