Manila 1st stopover in Asia of world’s largest solar-powered boat

The world’s largest solar-powered boat, PlanetSolar, has made Manila its first stopover in Asia on its worldwide tour to demonstrate the potential of solar power.

The stopover is doubly significant for the Philippines because it showcases the power of solar cells manufactured in the country by US-based SunPower Corp., company COO Marty Neese told reporters at the program marking the stopover at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Manila.

“PlanetSolar’s unprecedented, 50,000-kilometer voyage through five continents demonstrates the incredible power of 38,000 high-efficiency solar cells which come only from the Philippines,” Neese said.

He said cells produced in the country when used together, were 50 percent more powerful than other models. “And that is made possible by the high-quality engineers present here,” Neese said.

Sailing under the Swiss flag, PlanetSolar is close to 102 feet long and 50 feet wide. It is covered by a solar generator measuring 5,700 square feet.

Raphael Domjan, founder and coskipper of PlanetSolar, earlier said his group was excited to see where the solar cells were manufactured.

“We have been extremely pleased with the outstanding performance of the SunPower solar cells on every leg of our world tour, to date,” he said in a statement.

The solar cells have generated “more power than necessary” to get the boat to each stop on time, Domjan said.

“In fact, we arrived in Manila a week ahead of schedule. We are proud to be the first solar boat of this size, which is the largest to date, to travel this great distance powered only by solar energy,” he added.

SunPower said its cells offered exceptional performance even in environments with low lights.

The MS Tûranor PlanetSolar began its journey around the world in Monaco on Sept. 27, 2010. Its mission is to demonstrate that existing renewable energy technologies are reliable and effective.

The project also aims to advance scientific research.

The PlanetSolar project, founded by Swiss Raphael Domjan, based in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland/Canton Vaud), has made technological developments possible in fields such as the production of composite materials and structures, as well as the storage of solar energy.

For the world tour, the project relies on technical data provided by Meteo France, with solar routing technology that was specifically developed for the project.

The MS Tûranor PlanetSolar was designed by New Zealander Craig Loomes of Lomocean Design, according to the so-called “wave-piercing” concept, which apparently needs less energy than conventional concepts.