SolarPower

World's Largest Solar Boat Revealed

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

Czeers, the Solar-Powered Speedboat

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Green

This time of year speedboats are a popular hobby, and unfortunately a more and more common accessory with that hobby is a big 'ol side of guilt due to all the gas and energy negatively impacting the environment. But wealthy water-lovers in the Netherlands now have a new option that's not only much more environmentally friendly but also outrageously cool: a solar-powered speed boat.

The Czeers Solarboat is 33 ft long and can get up to 35mph, thanks to the 150 solar cells covering its entire surface and giving it a very futuristic look. All yours for just $1.1 million. Ouch.

Gallery: Czeers Solar-Powered Speedboat

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Tags: boat, boating, czeers solarboat, czeers solarboats, CzeersSolarboat, CzeersSolarboats, solar, solar power, solar powered, solar-power, solar-powered, solarboats, SolarPower, SolarPowered, speed boat, SpeedBoat

Damien Hirst Orders Serious Solar Power

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Green

Damien Hirst, the world's most expensive living artist, is going green in a major way: he recently placed an order for Britain's second largest solar panel system. The system will be used to switch his Gloucestershire country home and studios over to total solar power. I can imagine he's got a lot of electricity needs for his entire estate, but I'm wondering if a 310 watt system (enough power to supply electricity to the equivalent of over 150 homes and will account for 2% of the entire country's solar power) isn't a bit overkill?

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Tags: artist, damien hirst, DamienHirst, eco, environment, green, hirst, most expensive, MostExpensive, solar power, SolarPower