Circumnavigating the globe using only solar power is the highly ambitious goal of the PlanetSolar project. Sailing under the Swiss flag, the largest solar-powered boat in the world cast off for the first time from the Port of Monaco on 27 September, 2010.

A technological masterpiece

Like Phileas Fogg in the Jules Verne novel, the PlanetSolar team aims to voyage around the world in an ecofriendly mode of transport. The hot air balloon, though, has been replaced by a huge, futuristic catamaran. She really is an amazing feat of technology, designed and developed by a diverse team of physicists, engineers, boat builders and environmental consultants.
At 31 metres long and 15 metres wide, the carbon-fibre catamaran weighs 85 tonnes and can reach an average speed of some 7.5 knots (15 km/h). The energy to power the PlanetSolar comes from 536 square metres of photovoltaic panels, making it the biggest solar boat in the world. Even as the sun sets, she can continue to sail through the night thanks to the surplus energy stored in her ion lithium batteries.

On 27 September, 2010, on the shores of the Mediterranean and sailing under the Swiss flag, PlanetSolar embarked on the first leg of her 160-day world tour. To benefit from as much sunshine as possible, the boat will navigate 50,000 kilometres along the Equator, taking in the East and West Coasts of North America, Australia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates along the way.

Sustainable development

Following on from the Catamaran sun21 (Atlantic crossing in 2007) and Bertrand Piccard’s Solar Impulse glider (circumnavigation planned for 2013), the PlanetSolar project once again confirms Switzerland’s status as a leading innovator when it comes to sustainable technologies. The vision of a solar-powered catamaran was driven by a desire to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of renewable energies, particularly solar power and its related technologies. The architects of the project hope that their initiative will boost investment in research on clean energies and ultimately revolutionize marine engine design. This is no mean feat, when you consider that 90% of goods are currently transported by sea in huge freighters that guzzle vast quantities of fossil fuels and are major emitters of greenhouse gases. A further aim of the project is raise public awareness of the potential that these energies offer. One way it will do this is through the travelling exhibition “PlanetSolar Village”, a communication platform that will host conferences and presentations on the subject of sustainable development. After stopovers in several European cities during the course of 2010, the exhibition will also travel to all ports of call on the 2011 PlanetSolar itinerary.