Posted on 02/03/2007 9:09:55 PM PST by NormsRevenge
GENEVA (AFP) - A Swiss-made catamaran has become the first solar-powered boat to cross the Atlantic after reaching the French Caribbean island of Martinique, the boat's owners said.
Sun21 reached Martinique's Le Marin harbour at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Friday, 63 days after leaving the Spanish port of Chipiona near Cadiz, the Transatlantic21 partnership said on its website.
The 14 metre (46 feet) boat largely followed the historic route sailed by explorer Christopher Columbus on the first known maritime crossing of the Atlantic in the 15th century, making its last stopover in the Canary Islands.
The catamaran covered the final 5,000 kilometre (3,100 miles) non-stop leg in 30 days.
Crew member Martin Vosseler said the feat was aimed at "sending a clear signal about the arrival of the age of solar power," following a cry of alarm launched by a UN panel of scientists about the impact of climate change.
The eight person crew said the 60 square metres of solar panels fuelling Sun21 allowed them to travel up to 198 kilometres (123 miles) a day.
"There's hardly any vibration, the solar panels provide us with shade and, unlike a sailing boat, we make good headway even when there's no wind," crewmember Beat von Scarpatetti said on his blog.
Sun21 will next head to New York via several Caribbean islands and Miami, aiming to dock in Manhattan in May.
A solar-powered Swiss catamaran travels in Guadalquivir river in Seville, in 2006. The catamaran has become the first solar-powered boat to cross the Atlantic after reaching the French Caribbean island of Martinique, the boat's owners said.(AFP/File/Cristina Quicler)
I read recently that solar cell efficiency has increased to 40%. Good news.
Been happening for centuries: wind is generated by heat from the sun.
Uh, could they make it any uglier? I'm gonna wait for the hybrid version where the solar cells are integrated into the sails...
Looks like a pontoon for midgets.
solar sails? sounds cool and doable with the right materials.
Um, might have problems with that, since sails are vertical surfaces. Solar arrays need to be perpendicular to the sun's rays, which generally means horizontal planes, or a gentle inclination based on how far you are from the equator (and time of year). Solar cells on sails won't do you much good unless you're in the arctic or antarctic, not good open-boating territory.
Besides, the point was to do it without sails.
That said, hybrids do often come out better because one technology can cover when the other one isn't working. F'rinstance, my house has both photovoltaic panels, and a wind machine. Sorta helps cover the bases, except when the sun isn't shining AND the wind isn't blowing. Too much of that and I crank up the generator and burn some dead dinosaurs.
I don't think it's a materials problem. It's a geometric problem -- solar arrays want to be horizontal, sails want to be vertical. See my post above (#6)...
Are people so dumbed-down that they now think that sail power contributes to global warming?!
5 miles per hour under solar power won't cut it, either.
Solar power for a boat is terrible at night...a time when a fast catamaran can make 25 miles per hour or better...for 12 hours.
Actually, sails have lots of interesting surfaces with normal vectors that could easily point sunward. Sails are generally only vertical when there's no wind, which would occur at a time when stored battery energy would be needed to propel the boat (and the sun is rarely directly overhead anyway). However, once the sailboat was moving under power, it would generate its own "apparent wind", which might serve to heel the boat (and the sails) away from vertical. Of course, this discussion is moot because my original post was not intended to be taken seriously...
And that was their BEST, as in "up to 123 miles/day"
No wonder there "was hardly any vibration"!
Oh, and that sure is a waste of upper deck space, just to have shade and and a 'good feeling' from 'doing something'!
Very cool, It will be interesting to see what new products hit the boating market, from this testing.
Likewise, you can make solar panels to be flexible and light if you are willing to give up a little efficiency.
So be it. Combine them and you'd at least have some decent speed on most days (keep a framework or rigging handy to stretch out the sail on to get solar power on days with no wind, too).
"Ugly" is sending a significant part of your gasoline dollar to Middle East/or now-Communist regimes. Flexible solar cells are already in the pipeline, BTW.
http://www.siliconsolar.com/inc-images/flexible-solar-panel-5-watt.jpg
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:6oxnlwgofuP40M:http://www.siliconsolar.com/inc-images/flexible-solar-panel-10-watt.jpg
In the middle-80s, a retirement community near me in Central Florida ushered prospectives around the community's solar-powered lakefront homes in a solar-powered pontoon boat. A cute idea, but I don't think any of them are still solar after Hurricane Charley.
As to solar/wind hybrids. During a nasty blow I guess you just toss out the sea anchor and hope for the best.
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