World's Largest Solar Boat Revealed

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 27th 2010 at 8:01PM

The world's largest solar boat has been revealed. Planet Solar is a 102-foot yacht which has a 50-foot beam and weighs around 60 tons. The topside of the ship is covered with 5,300 square feet of solar panels and it can hit a top speed of around 15 knots. Two men Raphaël Domjan and Gerard d'Aboville will take the catamaran around the world starting in April 2011. The voyage is designed to raise awareness of the carbon footprint created by boats used to ship goods. Around 1.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide (in 2008) were expelled shipping goods. That is 6% of the total carbon dioxide emissions and twice as much as air transport. Check out more images of the yacht in progress and learn more about the mission at the Planet Solar website.

[via Christian Science Monitor]

Tags: planet solar, planet solar yacht, PlanetSolar, PlanetSolarYacht, solar panels, solar power, SolarPanels, SolarPower

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Green

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

J Mar 2nd 2010 11:16AM

That seems like a scale MODEL of a ship. Look at the blurred out area in the upper left. Was it some object on the floor that gave away its scale? The lighting and objects don't seem right. It's a very cool design, however.

Terry Mar 2nd 2010 11:21AM

Boy are you people slow with the news. Pics of this boat (inside and out) circulated the Internet last week! It is loaded with anything you could possibly want! It is a floating dream home!

dickn2000b Mar 2nd 2010 11:43AM

This is a travesty of engineering. I should know, I'm an electrical engineer with advanced degrees. Yes it looks cool, but as practical transportation it is useless...a waste of time. Furthermore it has no practical application. Solar power, although clean and efficient, cannot generate the watts per square necessary to be a source of power for ANY mode of transportation. It simply takes too much surface area for the solar panals. My engineering department at General Electric attempted to build a solar powered car back in the early 70's. We covered the roof, the hood and the trunk lid with solar cells... then the door panels until the entire body of the car was covered. This was still not enough to power the motors. We finally ended up towing a fairly long trailer full of solar panels behind the car and still our top speed was only 28 mph in bright sunlight.

pmahoney361 Mar 2nd 2010 11:48AM

this is someting that i posted on another site, but i felt that some on here should be able to see it also.

i won't bother posting links, as you can copy and paste some of the terms or statements i have written and search them out for yourselves.

Beware of the Greenies and the eco nuts, they are working towards taking away all of your rights, freedoms, and liberties. this type of treatment is already happening to many of us that use any type of natural resource's, such as commercial farmers, miners, hunters, trappers, fishermen, treasure hunters/salvors, etc. etc.

yes, " global warming is a lie "
yes, "carbon credits are theft"

yes, the ocean levels are rising, and they have been since the last ice age approx. 15,000 years ago.
yes, the glaciers are melting, but it is not because of any impact caused by man or industry.
yes, the planet is a tiny bit warmer than it was 40 years ago, because of the earths cyclical (approx. 40 years cycle's ), eliptical revolutions around the sun.
yes, there are also fluctuations of the earths rotation on it's axis, that can greatly effect weather.
yes, the earths rotation in context to the equater was situated much differently 2 mil. years ago.
yes, i have personally seen scientific studies altered and manipulated to achieve a desired outcome.
yes, 40 years from now, the temps. are going to be approx. 5 degrees colder ( than the avg.)
yes, more than 70 percent of scientists and researchers have rejected the global warming theory.
yes, there is an enviromental agenda, ( and it is not for the benefit mankind or the enviroment ).
yes, globalism is "very bad" for "all of the citizens of the world".
yes, America should withdraw completely from the UN, and any and all of the resolutions, concessions, or agreements that have been made in the past.
yes, America should always remain as an independant soveriegn nation.
yes, i feel that Al Gore has lied to people on a global scale, and unfortunatly many believed him.
yes, global corporations are destroying the planet and putting the worlds populations at risk, but not how you may think, as the enviromental degradations are only a small part of the devastations they are causing on a global scale.
yes, carbon credits are just a convienient way of taking away your collective and individual rights, and are a means of striking down... "the natural rights of man".

The more they restrict the general public's access to all forms of natural resources... whether it be... animal, vegtable or mineral, the more the prices for all commodities will skyrocket. with the profits and benefits from these resources only going to the governments, and the biggest of coprporations. they must stop ...restricting the publics natural rights to access all of these resources.

They are not even allowing for any subsistance rights to these resources.
Though you may not... mine, hunt, fish, or farm for your survival, there are many of us that do.
The UN and member nations governments are ilterally regulating away our means of survival.

* i am sorry if it may seem to some people that i have strayed from the initial topic, but i have not, as all of these issues are inter-related to some degree.

as it's getting late, i will stop and say that now it is up to all of you... to honestly and objectively digest the info i have presented, and by all means, please do a little bit of research to confirm these facts for yourself.

thanks and have a great day.

Dan Mar 2nd 2010 11:48AM

As a few have stated. Do any of you realize the amount of so-called "carbon foot print discharge" that it took to create this useless piece of junk? Sure it might futuristic and cool. But the amount of carbon that it took to create the fiberglass resins and epoxies to build this boat would stagger your imagination. Remember the article stated that this boat weighs in at 60 tons. Now lets break that down. The fiberglass hull probably comprises at least 35 tons of that weight. Meaning tons of fossil fuels to produce the resins and glass in the fiberglass. Oh and lets not forget there is no way to safely dispose of the hull once it's out lived it's usefullness. Unlike steel or aluminium that can be melted down and reused. Then we get to the solar cells. 15 knots is barely the equivalent of a very small outboard motor. Not very efficient for crossing the ocean. Then there's the batteries. What about days and days of overcast weather? I speak from personal experience of being at sea for months at a time, it happens and there's not a dammed thing you can do about that. I'm sure they're using something equivelent to the batteries being used in hybred cars and the batteries are an eviromentalist nightmare that are toxic waste and there's no adequate way of disposing of them with contaminating the soil. All in all, I'd say this boat is a huge boondoggle and I'd bet anyone that on it's maiden voyage the Coast Guard somewhere in the world will be getting a distress call to rescue these idiots because the batteries are dead. In which case it will cost the tax payers thousands to rescue them. Who's going to pay that bill?

Scott V. Mar 2nd 2010 2:42PM

What I want to know is......Who Paid To Build It! Article doesn't mention a word!

wordman238 Mar 2nd 2010 12:06PM

I say let's quit screwin' around and bring back coal powered trains. While we're at it leaded fuel and why don't we lift ALL hunting and fishing restrictions. We can also lift the ban on whaling, plow down ALL of the rain forests. Burn all of the used tires on the planet all at once. Spill all of the toxic waste we can find in the rivers and streams. Have a few chernobyls and 3 mile island incidents. And then party like it's 1999!!!!!! Now I guess I got a rise out of a few people.

rick Mar 2nd 2010 12:44PM

Yeah, and all that carbon produced isn't the equivalent of one volcano going off; and we currently have 3 in the Pacific,4 if you count the one in Hawaii that has been erupting sice the 60's! When is Al going to spend millions to stop the volcanos?

wordman238 Mar 2nd 2010 12:14PM

Now everyone quit trippin' I was being sarcastic. It just seems like some people make mole hills into mount everest. It's not that I don't beleive in taking care of our environment; I do. I also belive in balance and positively utilizing our resources in a RESPONSIBLE way.

k Mar 2nd 2010 12:26PM

wow i wanted to see the real thing, not the model, thanks AOL

jim Mar 2nd 2010 1:17PM

a complete waste of time and money.

Ron Mar 2nd 2010 1:25PM

What they fail to tell us is that it will have storage batteries aboard which will contain toxic chenicals. How much junk hit the landfills in building it?
Technically it is a Catamaran as it will be riding on only two surfaces when on plane. The sponsons also have a wave piercing design which makes for a smoother ride in the rough ocean waters.
Topping out at only 15 knots is going to make for a boring around-the-world trip.

john Mar 2nd 2010 2:04PM

Any one not believing on teh global warming problem, is either a total moron or a republican.Either way stupid to the core!

Sidney Clouston Mar 2nd 2010 4:02PM

I think that the Glacers that are measured as shrinking and the Ice Core measurment show increased CO2. A few million cars running have an
emission. If you do not believe that just leave your motor on and stay
in your garage with the doors shut. The Engineering of that ship looks
to me to have about 250 modules and modern Photovoltaic Modules
are vastly improved over 1970 types and can be rated 165 W each.
Doing the Math I get over 41,000 W. Perhaps GE has improve their
electric motors from their dabbleing in Wind Power. Secondly, Solar
Electric power and Water can yield Hydrogen from Electrolysis and
power the ship at night. For a more modern update, see "NASA Helios
airplane" that broke the altitude record with Bifacial PV.
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/64317main_helios.pdf

Eddie Mar 4th 2010 10:52PM

Bad math somewhere. Length of 102 feet times 50 feet beam is 5100 square feet, even if it were rectangular, which it is not. How can it have 5300 square feet of solar panels? Somebody did not check elementary facts. I was born at night, but not last night. Another myth like global warming, but this one is easier to spot as a hoax.

Rob Mar 6th 2010 1:37AM

... and it will run so quietly that whales and other sealife won't hear it coming. Think of the massacre! All those whales, dolphins, giant squids,... harpooned by the outriggers. Soon Greenpeace will be petitioning them to add an artificial sound to the engines so that sealife will know it's bearing down on them.

;)

Previous 20 Comments