Planet Solar Round The World Cruise
Ever wanted a sun filled cruise around the world. The Solar Planet project is doing just that but using the sun to drive their solar powered boat rather then getting a tan.
The solar powered boat will make it`s round the world trip in around 4 months at an average speed of 10 knots just using energy from the sun. The 98 foot boat will be covered in photovoltaic cells which will cover an area of over 5,000 square feet. The yacht might not be for sale, but if you wanted to buy it for your weekend sailing trips, it could set you back $13 million.
The catamaran style boat is being funded by the Swiss company, Rivendell Holdings AG. Based in the town of Zug, Rivendell are an investment firm which mainly backs technologies that concern improving the environment, recycling and regenerative technologies.. The company is owned by the German investor Immo Stroeher.
This is the most expensive boat of its type but is being developed as proof of technology with an outlook for incorporating the technology in commercial operations. There is already an increase of small recreational craft and ferries using solar technology and now solar powered is starting to show itself in larger commercial shipping. The hope is once it can be shown to be possible that an increase in solar powered shipping will just be a few years away and start a reduction of carbon based fuels for shipping.
Planet Solar will start its round the world trip from Marseilles, France and head across the Atlantic ocean, passing through the Panama canal. It will head for the Suez Canal via the Pacific and Indian Ocean before finishing its cruise in the Mediterranean.
Crewed by just two, Skipper Raphael Domjan and Navigator Gerard d’Aboville, the data gathered on the trip will help further research in the field of Solar powered shipping.
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