The Duogen convertible wind- or water-driven generator is one heckuva transformer. The unusual design caught my eye at the boat show, and it was a little confusing figuring out how it works. Many cruisers have set off with wind generators to increase their energy independence, only to discover that they make a negligible amount of power on passage, because the apparent wind on downwind routes is so light. Some have turned to water generators that make lots of power from an impeller towed behind the vessel, but these have some interesting issues, e.g. sharks seem to be attracted by the giant lure, and—I’m not making this up—bite them off the line! Duogen’s convertible looks to be a successful combination generator, but using a shaft driven prop instead of the shark bait impeller.

Duogen isn’t the first to make a convertible generator, but the innovative design of the Duogen switches between wind and water modes with surprising simplicity. A permanent magnet alternator at the base of the unit is turned by a drive-shaft to which the wind rotor or water impeller is easily attached. The tool-less conversion looks to be quite easy, and the installation seems very reasonable as well.

From Yachting World’s ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) gear survey, it appears that the Duogen works well and produces a lot of power, but there were some issues with breakage. Hopefully this was addressed in the revised Duogen 2 that is out now. The biggest reservation for many will be the greater than $3,000 price.

See a video demo of the Duogen provided by Southeast Marine Services of Scapoose, Oregon.