The solar ship or solar boat ☀️ Possible use of transparent solar glass modules ☑️

In 1989 the trimaran Basilisk 1 completed a tour: Basel – Koblenz – Trier – Saarbrücken – Strasbourg – Basel. In 1990 even a trip from Basel almost to Ibiza (2,000 km). 50 km from the finish, the boat captain Matthias Wegmann had to give up the boat due to the accumulation of unfortunate circumstances and was rescued by a freighter. Technical data: length 5 m, width 4.5 m, displacement 0.3 t, 4 passengers, 2 berths, PV 500 Wp/10 km/h, motor 2 kW/13 km/h, battery (lead) 2 kWh/ 60kg. This boat with folding wheels could even drive on the road as a solar mobile at 30 km/h, but was never road legal.

Improved version of Basilisk 1: Since solar boats can never achieve the performance of sailboats on the sea, but sailboats are virtually useless on rivers/canals, this boat was designed purely for inland waters. It operates on the rivers and canals of France and is now based in Dijon. Technical data: length 6 m, width 4.5 m, displacement 0.5 t, PV 800 Wp/10 km/h, motor 24 V 2 kW/12 km/h, battery first (lead) 4 kWh/120 kg , then (LiFeYPo4) 5 kWh/50 kg, 4 passengers, 4 berths. Special feature: Trailer wheels are mounted in the outriggers and a removable trailer hitch is mounted in the bow, so that when folded down the boat can be towed by any car without an additional trailer.

The first and, until 2017, the only solar boat that covered the route Basel-Amsterdam-Basel (current speed up to 12km/h) from July 7th to 31st, 2010, which corresponds to around 70km/day. As a trimaran with a wave truss main hull, she managed 16 km/h with 6 kW. Technical data: length 12 m, width 4.5 m, empty displacement 2t, with 12 passengers 3t, solar cells 1.8 kWp/12 km/h, motor 6 kW/16 km/h, lead battery 20 kWh 600 kg, 6 bunks, toilet, kitchen.

Aditya is a solar-powered ferry that operates between Vaikkom and Thavanakkadavu in the Indian state of Kerala. The ship was inaugurated by Kerala's Chief Minister Sri. Pinarayi Vijayan and Central Cabinet Minister for Power and Renewable Energy, Sri. Piyush Goyal inaugurated on January 12, 2017.

It is India's first solar powered ferry and the largest solar powered boat in India. The vessel was designed and built by NavAlt Solar and Electric Boats in Kochi, India. NavAlt is a joint venture between Navgathi Marine Design and Constructions, Alternative Energies (France) and EVE Systems (France).

In August 2020, MarineLink reported that the state of Kerala will replace the three diesel ferries plying the same route with solar ferries by the end of the year, mentioning that the Aditya costs about $79 per month compared to $2867 for diesel-powered ferries . In three years, the Aditya has saved more than 100,000 liters of diesel. The state water transport department of the government of Kerala has also decided to replace all its 48 diesel ferries with solar ferries.

In 2000, Alster Touristik in Hamburg named the solar ship “Alstersonne”. At 26.53 meters long, it was the largest solar ship in the world at the time. It is a catamaran with two engines of 8 kW each.[7] It has space for 100 people and was initially provided with an acrylic glass roof into which photovoltaic modules were integrated. In 2006, the acrylic glass roof was replaced with real glass and the inclination of the glass modules was modified.

The Tûranor PlanetSolar is a catamaran christened on March 31, 2010 that is powered exclusively by solar energy. It was the largest solar-powered watercraft at the time, measuring 31 m long and weighing 84 t. The ship, powered by 240 kW engines, was used to circumnavigate the world. It started from Monaco on September 27, 2010, crossed the Panama Canal and reached the Galapagos Islands at the end of January 2011. After almost 485 days, the solar ship arrived back in Monaco on May 4, 2012, thus completing its trip around the world.

The ship's history dates back to 2004. At that time, the Swiss paramedic Raphaël Domjan wanted to be the first person to circumnavigate the world in a solar boat. Together with his partner, the French politician and navigator Gérard d'Aboville, he developed the first ideas for this project. D'Aboville was the first person to cross the Atlantic alone and then the Pacific in a rowing boat in the 1980s and 1990s. The two initially planned to have a small ship built for two people. Then the Darmstadt entrepreneur and Wella heir Immo Ströher found out about the project through a press report. He convinced Domjan and d'Aboville to build a larger boat. He also planned a professional communication strategy and a reuse concept.

The project, the total cost of which is said to be around 15 million euros, was largely financed by Immo Ströher and its Swiss holding company Rivendell, which invests primarily in technologies in the areas of renewable energies, recycling and environmental protection. Ströher was one of the first entrepreneurs in Germany to promote solar energy. The founding of the companies Solon, Q-Cells, Younicos and Grundgrün, among others, were made possible through his support.

The futuristic design with one main and two secondary hulls comes from New Zealand designer Craig Loomes, from the New Zealand company LomOcean Design.

The electric motor ship Europa operates as an excursion boat on the Maschsee in Hanover.

The “Spree Shuttle” (formerly “Gaienhofen”) covered 5,000 km between June 2000 and October 2003. In the summer of 2003, the solar ship only needed two charges from the power grid. In total, more than 4,000 passengers were transported.

MobiCat is an electrically powered passenger catamaran. It gets its drive energy from solar energy. The watercraft was launched in July 2001 and has been sailing on Lake Biel ever since.

The Orca ten Broke is an unconventional inland waterway vessel that serves as a seminar ship and does not use fossil fuels.

The CO2-neutral inland waterway vessel with approval for 199 people was built at Ostseestaal in Stralsund. The Berlin solar-powered battery ferries Fährbär were also created here. The ship is divided into three decks, the hull and superstructure are made of steel. The lowest deck houses the technical equipment in the engine and 4 battery rooms as well as the tanks. The 2.4 m high tween deck houses the seminar room, which extends across the entire width of the ship and can be divided into three separate rooms using room dividers. Above this is the sun deck with the solar modules.

The 35.55 m long and 8.25 m wide Orca ten Broke is powered by a 110 kW electric motor powered by a battery with a capacity of 200 kWh.

The battery is charged by photovoltaic modules with an output of 32 kWp on the roof and a generator. When the weather is favorable, the photovoltaic system can cover the entire energy requirement. The battery system has a capacity of 250 kilowatt hours. The generator is powered by a Deutz engine type BF6M1013M, which is approved for paraffinic fuels such as hydrogenated vegetable oils, recycled vegetable oils and waste fats as well as liquid fuels from natural gas (GtL) and biomass (BtL). In the future, so-called e-fuels (PtL), i.e. CO2-neutral fuels from excess electricity, will be used. The engine operates on the principle of “coupling power and heat” and supplies electricity and heat for hot water and heating. A 1500 liter buffer tank was provided for this purpose. Underfloor heating, good insulation and multi-glazed windows ensure low heat requirements.

The aim of the energy concept is to transfer efficient technologies that have already been successfully implemented in low-energy buildings to the seminar ship. The energetic concept was developed by the owner Felix Eisenhardt and realized together with Ingo Schillinger from the shipyard.

If mooring or anchoring is not possible, “parking” can be done using lowerable anchor posts. The ship was delivered in November 2017 and transferred to the location in Berlin.

Since June 2004, the largest stainless steel solar catamaran in the world has been sailing on the Neckar in Heidelberg. The excursion and charter boat, proudly called the “SolarShip”, weighs 51 tons and is 24.95 m long. It offers 80 covered covered seats and 30 additional seats on the open deck. At a service speed of around 14 km/h, its range with charged batteries is at least 110 km. It is powered by two three-phase electric motors, each with 25 kW. Only the middle roof area of ​​this vehicle is covered with solar cells, so there is a clear view on the sides and halfway up.

Since April 2006, two solar-electrically powered boats have been used on the Weser in Hameln and have been very successful for tourism purposes. This tourism project will be continued in 2008 with new and technically up-to-date boat models.

At the beginning of December 2006, the Sun21, a solar catamaran built in Switzerland, set off from Seville for the first Atlantic crossing by a solar boat. After a stopover in the Canary Islands, the boat with its 5 crew members reached the port of Le Marin on Martinique in the Caribbean on February 2nd, 2007 and the destination New York on May 8th. Martin Vosseler initiated the project.

The Sun21 was the prototype for a solar ship on Berlin's waters. On August 12, 2009, the Solon was christened by Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit. The Suncat 58 ship has a Solon solar generator with an output of 5.6 kWp. The catamaran's engines have a total of 2×8 kW electrical power. The battery storage is sufficient for 10 hours of operation without sun. A SunCat 58 can accommodate up to 60 people. In addition to the Solon, the same manufacturer also offers small solar boats for up to 12 people and even a luxurious solar yacht.

Electric or solar boats equipped with photovoltaic-hydrogen hybrid technology use a combination of photovoltaics and fuel cells, the latter powered by hydrogen, which in turn is reversibly produced using solar cells. A world-first prototype, the “Solgenia”, is being developed as a research vessel at the University of Konstanz and has been in practical operation on Lake Constance since the beginning of 2007.

The Energy Observer, launched in April 2017, is the first ship in the world to generate and be powered by hydrogen. Developed in collaboration with engineers from CEA-LITEN, the boat aims to test and prove the efficiency of a complete production chain based on the coupling of various renewable energies. After its launch, the boat set off on a six-year world tour in spring 2017 to optimize its technologies and lead an expedition that will lead to lasting solutions for the energy transition. The boat was appointed the first French ambassador of the Sustainable Development Goals by the French Ministry for an Ecological and Solidarity Transition.

The 1st Hydrogen Ship Around the World
Energy Observer is a project revolving around an experimental ship and its expedition whose main objective is to find concrete, innovative and successful solutions for the energy transition. Thanks to its technologies, it will be the first ship in the world able to produce decarbonized hydrogen on board thanks to an energy mix. It is often referred to as “Solar Impulse of the Seas” because the technologies developed are reminiscent of Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg's solar project, or as “Modern day Calypso” because the ship serves as a production platform for media content about ecology, sustainable development and energy transition should be used.

The Energy Observer scientific mission
is a floating laboratory designed to test an innovative energy architecture in extreme conditions to prove its feasibility on land. The energy system includes three renewable energy sources (solar, wind and hydroelectric) and two types of storage (Li-ion batteries for short-term use and hydrogen for long-term use). The ship can produce hydrogen directly on board through seawater electrolysis. The aim is to test and optimize these technological building blocks so that they work together harmoniously and the goal of complete energy autonomy is achieved. Every year the ship will return to the shipyard to analyze the navigation and the development of the technologies on board.

Technologies used
The experimental ship, designed in collaboration with a team of naval architects and the CEA-LITEN in Grenoble, is the first ship that can produce hydrogen on board autonomously and without greenhouse gas emissions using renewable energies. The ship will produce and store hydrogen using an energy mix of seawater: 3 types of solar panels on an area of ​​130 square meters (21 kW peak), 2 vertical axis wind turbines (2 x 1 kW), 1 towing kite and 2 reversible electric motors (2 ×41 kW) for hydrogen production, 1 lithium battery (106 kWh), 1 desalination plant, 1 electrolyzer, 1 compressor, 1 fuel cell (22 kW) and 62 kg of hydrogen. The entire hydrogen system weighs 2,100 kilos. In 2019, a new, lighter battery was used.

The SolarWave was launched on December 17, 2009, christened on January 27, 2010 and set off on April 7, 2010 for the first energy self-sufficient circumnavigation of the world. The solar catamaran is 14 m long and 7.5 m wide and weighs 12 tons. There are 57 m² of solar panels on the roof of the Solarwave and it is powered by 2 × 10 kW electric motors. What is unique about the Solarwave is that, in addition to the drive, all navigation, operating and household units, as well as electric support vehicles (dinghy and e-bike) are powered by solar energy. The project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of global solar mobility on a family-friendly, ocean-going sports boat and encourage imitation. In 2010, the boat crossed Europe on the Rhine, Main and Danube and sailed the Black Sea.

The Solaaris is an aluminum catamaran that went into service on April 2, 2012 at the Ostseestaal shipyard in Stralsund and replaces the “Landois” water bus that was decommissioned on the Aasee in Münster.

The ship, intended for 68 passengers, has a displacement of approximately 14 tons and a draft of 0.5 m, is 15.64 m long, 4.6 m wide and is powered by two 15 kW electric motors consisting of two 55 kWh lithium Ion batteries are supplied.

28 solar modules with 185 Wp each on the flat roof are intended to support the batteries on the around eight trips a day that go from the Aasee Terraces / Golden Bridge via the Mühlenhofin open-air museum jetty to the all-weather zoo / natural history museum and back.

The solar hydrogen vessel Energy Observer joins a number of large research and development projects that promote technology, society and the environment and convey a message in favor of renewable energy. This series also includes the polar schooner Tara, which has been traveling the world's oceans for science and environmental protection since 2007, Solar Impulse, the first solar aircraft, and Planet Solar, which was the first solar electric vehicle to circumnavigate the world in 2010. In October 2016, the Race for Water Odyssey Foundation announced that it would equip the Planet Solar catamaran, powered entirely by solar energy, with hydrogen technology for a round-the-world trip with similar ambitions to the Energy Observer project.

Planned but not yet realized ships with hydrogen fuel production on board using renewable energies are the “Orcelle”. This ferry is said to be the “green flagship” of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, a Norwegian-Swedish shipping company. It uses solar and wave energy to generate hydrogen on board to power the ship. Another hydrogen ship that has not yet been built is the ocean-going yacht “Eco-Trimaran,” which also uses the energy of the sun and waves. Wind energy is not used with sails, but with a wind turbine. This energy source can also contribute to hydrogen production on board, even during lay times.

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