After more than two months at sea, a boat powered exclusively with solar power has crossed the Atlantic in record time and arrived in Miami, Florida. The boat and crew will rest for a couple of days before heading out to Cancun, Mexico. The developers of the boat hope to show delegates attending the UN Climate Conference, that renewable energy is the way of the future.
At more than 30 meters long, Turanor is the world’s largest solar-powered boat, and it’s crew of six is on a mission to show the world that clean, renewable power is no longer a futuristic dream, but a practical reality.
Raphael Domjan, developer of Turanor, said, “The idea is to show that today we have the technologies to change. Not tomorrow, but today we can change. Now, it is not a boat you can buy on the normal markets but it is possible that we can be optimistic for the future.”
Turanor is powered by two large motors which run on electricity supplied by batteries located in the hold. The batteries, fed by photovoltaic solar panels on the deck, can store enough power to last three days. Turanor captain Patrick Marchesseau says the global voyage has been problem-free so far, although he admits the longer sections require some tactical thinking.
He said, “When you leave you have a certain quantity of energy in your batteries plus the sun but you do not have enough to reach the next port, to cross the Atlantic. So you have to deal, everyday to deal with the weather forecast to make sure you balance what you will consume and what you will receive.”
Turanor has been at sea for more than sixty days. Marchesseau says that in another ten months, the crew will hopefully have achieved its goal when Turanor becomes the first solar-powered boat to circumnavigate the earth.
