WORLD'S FASTEST SOLAR BOATS

 

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CLIMATE CHANGERS - Guinness World Records recognize water speed records for vehicles powered only by solar panels. The cross-channel attempt will go down in the history books. Laura Dekker christened the vessel in May of 2019.

 

 

It's early days yet, but the news of an ocean going water record boat has been released. Meantime, the team raced their splendid trimaran offshore at Monaco in July 2019, winning comfortably with a boat that sometimes reached 35 kph.

 

During the Solar & Energy Boat Challenge 2019, at Monaco, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team became the World Champion Solar Boat racing Team on the open sea.

The event took place on July 5th and 6th, and The TU Delft student’s success was all the more remarkable because they are the first Dutch team to race on the open water in a solar boat; and also because their attempt was hampered by setbacks which would have ended the dreams of a less dedicated team.

The TU Delf team consists entirely of students. They want to show that solar energy is viable on the open sea. Kristian Ruiter, team manager, is quoted as saying: "After all the setbacks, I would not have dared to dream that we would eventually become world champions."

The TU Delft Solar Boat Team is made up of 28 students from ten different faculties at TU Delft. They are given one year to design, produce, test and then finally race their solar boat.

 

 

 

 

SETBACKS

the team’s boat lost a hydrofoil whilst still back in their home waters of the IJsselmeer (a Dutch inland sea) during their last minute tests in preparation for the Monaco event.

During the event the team discovered damage to the electrical system around the solar panels. Olmar van Beurden, chief electrician, explained: “The damage was caused by internal heat. Unfortunately, this damage could not be fully repaired [in time for Saturday’s race]. To ensure that the boat was [not damaged further], and to guarantee the safety of the pilots, we decided to remove the solar panels from our boat and sail the Saturday race on the energy stored in the batteries.”

The 60 km long-distance race which took place on Saturday was a major challenge for the team. “This resulted in lower speeds and a major strategic challenge to match consumption and battery capacity. Even so the team crossed the finish line almost twice as fast as the competition, who were forced to recharge during the event.

Until last year the students only participated in inland waterway events. With this offshore race they have demonstrated what can be achieved on the open water, by a team of students, through the use of solar energy. 

SPEED RECORD

On Friday the first race took place between Monaco and Ventimiglia (IT) over a distance of 30 km during which the solar trimaran funcioned perfectly, enabling the team to achieve very high speeds and even set a record of 35 kmh.

 

News - 18 January 2019 - Webredactie communicatie

For the first time in Dutch history, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team is taking the step to develop a solar boat for the sea. It will be a trimaran, a boat with three hulls, which will completely control the ocean on solar energy. On Tuesday evening, January 15, the team presented the new design of the boat. With this boat, they plan to win the world championship for solar boats in Monaco this summer and to break a world record by crossing The Channel as the fastest solar boat in the world.

 

 

 

 

Completely new design for the open sea

 

Never before has the TU Delft Solar Boat Team built a solar boat that will defy the open seas. Besides being the first Dutch team, it will also be the first student team to take on this challenge. The design is completely different from previous years when boats were built for the inland waters. Over the past five months, the 26 students of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team have been working full-time to create the most optimal design. In order to cope with the high waves and heavy gusts of wind on the open sea, this year's boat will take the form of a trimaran. This is a boat with three hulls, so the boat can be built widely to provide the stability which is needed. With a larger solar boat, there will also be a considerably larger sun deck. The solar deck will be no less than 28 square meters, which is the same size as nine double beds together. With such a large surface, the energy that can be obtained from the sunlight is maximal. Due to the use of hydrofoils, the trimaran will not only be able to sail but can also fly above the waves at high speed. These hydrofoils lift the entire hull out of the water, reducing the water resistance drastically. This allows the solar boat to achieve a high speed on the energy that is only obtained from the sunlight.

 

 

 

 

Start production

 

Now that the design of the trimaran has been completed, the team starts with the production. "After five months, our design is complete: All the sub-systems have been perfected and we have carefully considered every detail. The next challenge is the production phase, the actual realization of this design", says the Team Manager Kristian. In just three months, the solar boat is fully produced and assembled so that the boat can defy the waters for the first time in the spring. The next months, the team will test and optimize the boat, so that at the start of July it will be ready to battle against world-class boats during The Offshore Challenge, the world-championships for solar boats, in Monaco. They will not only compete for the world title, the students will also do a world record attempt at the end of July by crossing The English Channel as the fastest solar boat ever. The team hopes to show how powerful sustainable energy can be at sea.

 

 

 

TU DELFT - The TU Delft Solar Boat Team is a Dreamteam that is situated in the D:Dreamhall. The name of this hall is an acronym for: ‘Delft: Dream Realization of Extremely Advanced Machines’. In the D:Dream hall multiple student teams work on their own innovative projects. Their team exists out of 26 ambitious students of ten different faculties from the TU Delft. In one year the students of our team take up the challenge to design, produce and race with a fully functioning solar-powered boat.

To that end, this project provides students with hands-on working experience in a multidisciplinary team towards such an ambitious goal. During one year our students develop competencies in multiple disciplinaries, which will be beneficial for the rest of their professional career. To date they have 89 partners, including the Damen Shipyards Group. This international group of companies operates 33 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 9,300 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 6,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers 200 vessels annually. 

 

 

TU Delft Solar Boat Team

 

The current team consists of a group of 26 students from ten different faculties at the TU Delft. Since its foundation in 2006, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team has been trying to inspire the maritime sector to become more sustainable. Until this year, the students participated in races for solar boats on inland waters. With this they have shown what a student team can achieve through the innovative use of solar energy. This is the first year that they are taking on the offshore challenge. The team wants to show that a lot is possible with sustainable techniques, even on the open sea. Furthermore, not one, but three passengers can sail in the boat this year. This is a big step towards passenger shipping, which shows the team that sailing on solar energy is also a viable option.

 

Their partners often help with a financial contributions, support in products & services or an exchange of knowledge. Through collaborating with the TU Delft Solar Boat Team their partners show that their company promotes sustainable developments and innovation. This is a way of showing the world that, together, technology can be developed such as to foster sustainable innovation.

 

 

Delft University solar boat team group photograph

 

CLIMATE CHANGERS - The 2019 team exists out of 26 ambitious students from ten different faculties of the TU Delft. Because of this wide arrange of knowledge and the different backgrounds of each team member we have an incredibly diverse team.

The awesome thing about a project like this one is that you work towards the same goal with so many different people for one year. And that’s really where the strength of a Dreamteam lies in. With this project, the team want to work together with the maritime sector, towards the next era heralding the second age of sustainable shipping - after the tall ships.

 

 

A bit of history

 

In 2005, the first TU Delft solar boat broke boundaries by winning the ‘Frisian Solar Challenge’.

In 2010, they implemented hydrofoil technology for the first time in the competition. The hydrofoils lifted the entire hull out of the water, thereby reducing the drag significantly. Their first hydrofoil configuration consisted of both surface piercing and fully submerged foils. In the following four years their expertise on foiling technology expanded continuously.

In 2014, for the first time in the history of the ‘Dutch Solar Challenge’, two fully submerged foils were used to lift the hull out of the water, reducing the hydrodynamic drag of the foils. The boat flew on its two foils much like a bicycle, remaining stable due to its forward speed. The next four years would see their knowledge on control theory and simulation grow considerably.

 

 

 

MONACO - The yacht harbour at Monaco is an ideal location for fast electric boats powered by the sun. For over a century Monaco has been a pioneer in powerboating.

 

 

Monaco, July 2019

This year the Delft team will participate in the biggest international competition and with that also the world championship for solar boats: The Solar & Energy Boat Challenge in Monaco. Their boat will compete on the open sea, which means that they will have to take into account high waves and wind.

The competition consists of two different stages. The first day there is a stage from Monaco to Ventimiglia (IT) and back, with a length of about 30 kilometers. The next stage consists of a stretch of 93 kilometers, from Monaco to Cannes (FR) and back.

To win the competition, the fastest time will have to be set for both the stage to and from Ventimiglia, as well as those to and from Cannes. This will be a difficult task since they will be competing against student teams, companies and private individuals. Some teams have superfast speedboats, but they are not deterred, they have faith that with their smart technologies they could be even faster by dealing with the available energy more efficiently. We wish all the teams the best of luck, where competition can only improve our knowledge.

 

 

The English Channel, La Marche

 

THE CHANNEL AUGUST 2019 - In July 2019 we will write history. The TU Delft Solar Boat Team will make a world record attempt to cross the English Channel as the fastest solar boat. In the last week of July we will travel this world-famous stretch of sea between Calais and Dover in as short a time as possible. With this we want to show the world that on solar panels you can cross this busy embankment strait. The most dangerous green lane route is between Dover and Calais

 

 

Contact information

 

For more information, photographs, video footage or questions you can contact Mechteld Bakkenes, you can contact her via mechteld.bakkenes@solarboatteam.nl or +31(0)626761156. You can also follow the team on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn via /solarboatteam.

Breaking records is often how we get a meaningful measure on progress in science and technology. Faster, further, higher, better. It’s a tangible demonstration of where we’ve been and where we’re going, and it’s the reason we are drawn to developments that use renewable technology to improve the quality of life for all the inhabitants of planet earth.

 

 

Postbus 5
2600 AA Delft
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)15 27 89111
info@tudelft.nl

 

 

Schools strikes for the climate in Australia

 

OTHER CLIMATE CHANGERS - Schools all over the world plan on staging a strike on the 15th of March 2019.

 

 

 

FASTEST SOLAR CIRCUMNAVIGATION TO DATE - On the 4th of May 2012, history was made, as Raphael Domjan, at the helm of a giant of a catamaran powered only by solar panels crossed the finishing line at Monaco to become the first electric boat to sail around the world. MS Tûranor PlanetSolar, known under the project name PlanetSolar, was (@ 2018) the largest solar-powered boat in the world. The vessel was launched on the 31st March 2010, also going into the Guinness Book of World Records. The project was mostly financed by Immo Stroeher, the owner of the boat.

 

 

 

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LINKS & REFERENCE

 

https://www.facebook.com/solarboatteam/

https://solarboatteam.nl/en/

https://www.tudelft.nl/en/2019/d-dream/the-tu-delft-solar-boat-team-presents-the-design-of-the-first-dutch-solar-boat-for-the-open-sea/

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-solar-powered-vehicle/

 

 

 This website is provided on a free basis as a public information service. Copyright © Cleaner Oceans Foundation Ltd (COFL) (Company No: 4674774) 2019. Solar Studios, BN271RF, United Kingdom. COFL is a charity without share capital.

 

 

 

 

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