The World’s Largest Solar Cruise Ship
Turanor Planet Solar is the world’s largest solar cruise ship ever made. Turanor Planet Solar was set to 18-month-record-breaking journey across the world. Turanor Planet Solar has an average speed of 4-5 knots. The ship was designed by LOMOcean Design and built by Knierim Yachtbau inKiel, a ship manufacturer from Germany. Construction of Turanor Planet Solar was cost around €12.5 million and was financed by a German entrepreneur. The name of the ship “Tûranor”, derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel: The Lord of the Rings which means "The Power of the Sun”. The Turanor Planet Solar sails around the world on a mission to be the initiator for public awareness about the importance of renewable energy to preserve the environment.
From the picture above we can see how big is Turanor Planet Solar and we can see the wide solar panels as it looks covering the ship. The design of the ship looks modern and luxurious. The ship also looks like a big spaceship enterprise that we used to see in science fiction movies.
The ship crossed the equator line where the sun shines most brightly and consistently there. Turanor Planet Solar is a Swiss vessel that has the look just like futuristic speed boat. If seeing from above, we can see clearly that the ship's roof is looking very wide and full of solar panels. It is because the ship needs a massive solar array to get enough energy so that the ship can travel without a hitch. It has like 703 solar panels placed above the ship covered in over 500 square meters roof area. Turanor Planet Solar took off from Monaco then goes to westward, anchored in Miami, Panama, Hong Kong, and many places to stop in along the way. The Turanor Planet Solar becomes the first cruise ship that fueled with energy that collected from the sunlight.
After more than one year traveling around the world, there are many experiences that have been gained by Turanor Planet Solar during its journey. Raphaël Domjan, captain and founder of Turanor Planet Solar share the journey and told about him and his crew experiences sail with this ship. Solar power panels have never experienced damage or technical difficulties during the journey. The biggest obstacle faced by the crew when the Turanor was anchored on the island of the Galapagos. At Galapagos, Turanor Planet Solar ever bombarded with bird droppings, but fortunately the ship can keep running after the crew cleaning the solar panels quickly. The energy that gathers from sunlight via solar panels is stored in a giant lithium-ion battery which is charged in 30 - 40% every time. This battery also has never experienced any serious troubles, so, the crew did not experience a lot of trouble to keep the ship always running and they can continue their journey to travel around the world and enjoy their trip.
Sailing with Turanor Planet solar makes the crew not be afraid to lose fuel because the energy that collected from the sun can be stored on battery units. The energy that has been stored in the battery can be used at any time. For example, it can be used during cloudy days or rainy days. So, basically this technology is really great for the needs of energy. This ship has proven that sunlight as a source for alternative energy can be used for human needs. Solar energy is also environmentally friendly. It will not contaminate the world with pollution like what fossil fuel does.
The interior of Turanor Planet Solar where it looks like have a wide space. With its wide space, the crew can do any activities inside the ship.
From the back of the boat, we can see that the ship look wide. This is because the width of the roof is made in order to collect enough sunlight. The wide part of the ship also has a distinct advantage in addition to highlighting the roof function mounted with solar panels as collecting energy from the sun. Crew can freely move and do their activities because the ship has a fairly wide area, in addition to their sailing time that is long enough.
