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Solar Boat To Cross the Atlantic

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the sun-and-sea dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes, "A group from Switzerland will soon attempt the first Atlantic crossing in a solar-powered boat. This ship, named SUN21, is a 14-meter-long catamaran able to sleep 5 or 6 persons. The goal is to leave Seville, Spain, in December 2006 and to reach ports in Florida and New York in the spring of 2007. This boat will achieve its 7,000-mile trip at a speed of 5-6 knots, about the speed of a sailing yacht, by using photovoltaic cells and without burning a single gallon of fuel. The consortium behind this project wants to demonstrate that the time has come for solar boats." The boat will cost about $556,000 to build and it will be for sale at some point after its crossing.

7 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. Been Done Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Every sailing vessel is basically a solar powered boat. Been doing that for eons. Why change now?

    Catboats with sails makes a very reliable clip night and day with little or no fancy technology - and can easily be mated up to such a solar-panel system for an added kick and redundancy...

  2. Re:why? by spun · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because wind and currents don't always go in the direction you might want them to?

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  3. But how much oil... by mr_stinky_britches · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But how much oil did it take to make the solar cells?

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    1. Re:But how much oil... by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How much oil did it take for you to submit that comment? How much oil is it taking me to submit this comment. You can't discount the use of a technology just because the industries that support the technology aren't up to snuff. It's completely possible to produce solar panels without oil, and we shouldn't not use them because it currently requires industries that use oil in one way or another. I mean, at that rate, you might as well discount wood boats, because unless you're picking up the wood off the ground and tying it together with some hemp rope you managed to make yourself, then you're probably using a lot of oil in the process.

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  4. Re:why? by Millenniumman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why does that matter? Sailboats can go in any direction other than straight into the wind. They aren't pushed forward by it.

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  5. From the article: by fredmosby · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the ship will undertake the first motorized crossing of the Atlantic without using a drop of gasoline

    Except for all the nuclear powered ships and submarines.

  6. Re:why? by lowfatsugar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    1. Effectively, sailboats can go "straight into the wind" by zigzagging (tacking). Unfortunately, this doesn't work so well in narrow channels (e.g. rivers). In this regard, the solar ship would have an edge, particularly on heavily used rivers.

    2. As many people here have pointed out, sailboats have been around for a very long time, meaning that we've had a lot of time to improve their design and construction. If the first generation of a solar ship can be competitive with current generation sailboats, I think that this bodes well for the solar ship in the long haul.

    3. Owing to the enormous forces involved in propelling a large ship using wind, the design, construction and operation of sailing vessels can be quite expensive. Half a million for a boat that can cross the Atlantic doesn't seem so bad, especially for a first-generation custom-built effort. With large scale production, I would expect to see prices come down.

    4. The masts, sails and standing rigging of a sailing vessel seem incompatible with modern top-loading cargo facilities, whereas I can imagine that a solar boat could be designed for compatibility with existing port equipment.

    5. Although batteries weigh a lot, so does fuel. And, unlike cars and trucks driving cross-country, ships crossing an ocean don't have the luxury of refueling, so they have to carry it all with them. On a solar-powered ship, you just need enough battery capacity to get you through cloudy patches.

    I'm not 100% convinced it'll work, but the idea has merit.