By Anna Valmero
PASAY CITY, METRO MANILA— The world’s largest solar-powered boat is now docked in Manila at the Philippine Navy headquarters as part of its world tour.
Manila is the first stopover in Asia for MS Turanor PlanetSolar. The boat weighs 95 tons and measures 102 feet in length and 50 feet in width.
The boat is powered by SunPower’s 38,000 Maxeon solar cells arranged in 825 modules on a total surface area of 537 square meters.
“The solar cells powering PlanetSolar are manufactured here in the Philippines and we take pride in the contributions of Filipinos in the boats 50,000-kilometer voyage through five continents,” said Marty Neese, SunPower chief operating officer.
“Each of the 38,000 solar cells can produce 3.4W of power whenever there is light, and this is about 50 percent more efficient than conventional cells,” Neese added.
Neese said that solar technology has good applications for marine and naval fleets, especially during long travels.
Energy captured by the solar cells is stored in six blocks containing 12 lithium ion batteries each at 648 cells each. The batteries weigh less than two tons, which is seven times less than conventional types.
PlanetSolar began its journey around the world in Monaco on September 2010 to raise awareness and demonstrate to people that harnessing solar energy is reliable and effective. It reached the Pacific via the Panama Canal and journeyed through the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Suez Canal
The world tour also aims to advance solar energy research, specifically in the production of composite materials such as carbon fiber and structures as well as storage of solar energy.
The solar boat arrived in Manila one week ahead of schedule due to the high efficiency and high power generated by the solar cells, said Raphael Domjan, founder and co-skipper of PlanetSolar.
“The solar cells have generated more power than needed to get us to each stop on time so we arrived earlier here in Manila,” Domjan said.“Our planet deserves a better fate than to be exploited endlessly. Now, we have all the means to live in harmony with nature and we want to demonstrate that solutions for sustainability exist as exemplified through our expedition.”
For the world tour, the project relies on technical data from Meteo France with solar routing technology to circumnavigate the globe.
The solar boat has a “wave-piercing” design to harness less energy for sustainable mobility, according to New Zealand designer Craig Loomes of Lomocean Design. It was built for 14 months by Knierim Tachtbau in Kiel Germany.
Sponsors of the project include Swiss watchmaker Candino and energy management firm Immosolar.
