After successfully sailing from Monaco and Miami to Cancun, the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, the world's largest solar-powered ship, is scheduled to dock in the port of Cartagena this afternoon.
The name TÛRANOR comes from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and translates to "The Power of the Sun".
The crew, composed of Raphaël Domjan, eco-explorer and founder of the PlanetSolar project, Captain Patrick Marchesseau, Mikaela von Koskull, Jens Langwasser, Christian Ochsenbein and Daniel Stahl, began their journey in Monaco on September 27. Its mission was to demonstrate that current technologies that aim to improve energy efficiency are reliable and effective. They also intend to advance scientific research in the field of renewable energies.
"Our journey goes extraordinarily well," reports Domjan. "Just before arriving in Miami, we stopped briefly at St. Martin to record the fastest transatlantic crossing furrowed by a solar spacecraft (26 days, 19 hours and 10 minutes to cover a 2,690-mile/4,982-kilometer journey: the distance between Las Palmas and St. Martin). We arrived in Miami on November 27 and managed to dock in Cancun on December 7, just in time for the high-level talks held at the United Nations Convention on Climate Change."
The PlanetSolar project, based in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland (Canton of Vaud), has already carried out possible technological advances in numerous fields, such as the production of composite materials and structures, as well as the production and accumulation of solar energy (or electricity). Sailing the seas under the Swiss flag and with an approximate length of 102 feet and width of 50 feet, TÛRANOR PlanetSolar was designed by the New Zealander Craig Loomes of LOMOcean Design, according to the "wave-piercing" concept, with which he cuts the waves. It uses less energy than required for conventional concepts, where a boat rides on the waves.
The surface area of the TÛRANOR PlanetSolar, with more than 5,700 square feet, is designed to act as a solar generator. Solar energy is collected on the catamaran by photovoltaic panels produced by SOLON AG (Berlin). For this project, SOLON used high-performance solar cells manufactured by SunPower Corporation, a California-based company.
As the leading solar cell manufacturer today, SunPower offers solar cells 50% more efficient than conventional solar cells and 2 to 4 times more efficient than thin-film solar cells. By placing the electrical contacts on the rear, SunPower achieves a conversion performance of up to 23%.
The solar energy provided by the generator is accumulated in a lithium-ion battery (this technology offers maximum performance and energy density). This ensures that the catamaran can continue to sail for long periods of time (up to three full days), even without receiving direct radiation.
TÛRANOR PlanetSolar will be the flagship that carries the message about the efficient application of renewable energies around the world (http://www.planetsolar.org). In addition, the solar catamaran should carry out a "global economic recovery" through the improvement between shipyards and component manufacturers and generate new business opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
The ship was built by Knierim Yachtbau, a yacht builder based in Kiel (Germany), specializing in the construction of individual yachts with carbon sandwich technology. The design of the drive technology of our own design and high performance comes from the engineering studio Drivetek AG (Biel, Switzerland).
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Authors: Val
