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Swiss Solar Powered Catamaran Finishes 'Round the World Tour

Posted by timothy on from the honestly-they-were-just-sick-of-mountains dept.

First time accepted submitter wokie78 writes "The PlanetSolar, a Swiss solar powered catamaran, has just arrived to Monaco (French original), its initial port of departure, after finishing its voyage around the world which it started in September 2010. Its five-member crew completed a 60,006 km trip fully powered by 537 square meters of solar panels, which produced from 500 to 600 kw/h in fair weather — which meant it could go for 300 km on a single charge. Everything on the boat was solar powered."

2 of 110 comments (clear)

  1. Re:kW/h? by TubeSteak · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.planetsolar.org/the-boat

    Surface area of solar modules: 537 m2
    PV panel efficiency: 18.8 %
    Installed PV power: 93.5 kW (127.0 HP)
    *Puissance moteur maximale: 120 kW
    Average engine consumption: 20 kW (26.8 HP)

    *Maximum motor output

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  2. Re:Even better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    There's also towing generators for sailboats that have been around forever. When you have a nice amount of wind and are cruising along you throw the generator off the back on a line and it charges the batteries as it's towed along. They're very common amongst boaties.