SolarWave
 SolarWave
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The SolarWave is an electric catamaran that is supplied exclusively with solar energy from photovoltaic cells. The launch took place on December 18, 2009 in Bonn am Rhein, on January 27, 2010 the SolarWave was christened by Reiner Calmund at the “ boot 2010” trade fair in Düsseldorf. The SolarWave has been on a long journey since April 2010. By October 2012, 8,000 nautical miles had been covered, 7,000 of which were exclusively with solar power. The original goal of circumnavigating the world as the first seaworthy solar yacht to be energy self-sufficient was initially postponed. Reason: The much more complex parallel project Tûranor PlanetSolar (launched on March 31, 2010), which started later, has now completely circled the earth. The SolarWave cruises in the Ionian Sea.
description
The SolarWave is a catamaran that is powered exclusively by electric motors and was designed to cover large distances completely self-sufficiently without sails and without fossil fuels. The energy to supply the two electric motors and the household is generated by solar panels and stored in lithium polymer batteries.
The SolarWave is not a regatta catamaran, but a practical yacht that aims to encourage imitation in order to document the feasibility of environmentally friendly boating.
The SolarWave is 13.9 meters long and 7.5 meters wide and has a total weight of 10 tons. The batteries account for approx. 150 kg and the solar panels approx. 460 kg. The roof of the Solarwave is covered with 38 m² of photovoltaic panels that produce an average of 50 kWh per day. The hull and the superstructure of the boat are made of glass fiber reinforced plastic in epoxy resin - sandwich construction with reinforcements made of carbon and aramid fibers, a very light and yet strong construction. The SolarWave has four cabins, each with a double bed, three bathrooms with toilet and shower, a large saloon with pantry (kitchenette), a spacious cockpit (terrace behind the open-air saloon) and two trampolines on the foredeck. It has the most modern communication and navigation electronics (GPS chart plotter, radar, autopilot self-steering system, automatic identification system AIS) as well as extensive operating and supply technology (induction cooker, microwave hot-air oven, washing machine, freezer, air conditioning), satellite-supported mobile radio and internet connection, webcam and wireless router.
No fossil fuels are used on the SolarWave, the dinghies also have an electric motor and the cooking is electric rather than gas. The boat is completely emission-neutral, produces its own domestic and drinking water as well as hot water with solar power and, with the right amount of sunshine, can drive independently for an unlimited period of time and supply its crew with energy and water.
Project creation
"The aim was to find a way to live cost-effectively and conserve resources and to move around in water without damaging the environment and without sacrificing comfort."
The Solarwave project was initiated by the lawyer Mag. Michael Köhler and the hairdresser Heike Patzelt from Carinthia in Austria, who have been working as yachting journalists for many years apart from their professions. On their diverse sailing trips, it had bothered them more and more that they had to regularly start the diesel generator even in the most beautiful and remote bays in order to have electrical energy for navigation, communication, refrigerator and on-board electrics. The wind direction and strength also rarely matched the planned course.
After extensive tests with solar panels and wind generators on series sailing yachts, they decided to build a seaworthy, comfortable boat with which it is possible to circumnavigate the earth using only solar energy. The SolarWave project was born. The non-profit association “SolarWave - Austrian Society for Alternative Energy Concepts” based in Klagenfurt was founded to support this project . The hulls of the solar yacht were built in Niederkassel on the Rhine, configuration and installation of the technology were the task of the two project initiators. The keel was laid in spring 2009. The launch of the boat hull took place on December 18, 2009 in Bonn's industrial port. After further months of interior and technical expansion in the Mondorf harbor, the SolarWave was completed in spring 2010.
This made the SolarWave the first boat in the world that started to circumnavigate the earth without fossil fuels and without sails. It was launched and started earlier than the technically much more complex parallel project Tûranor PlanetSolar (launched on March 31, 2010). The Tûranor PlanetSolar started on September 27, 2010 - almost six months after the SolarWave - from Monaco and has now completely circled the world. The goal of being the first purely solar-powered boat to circumnavigate the world was no longer achievable for the SolarWave. The SolarWave team made a conscious decision to travel extensively on rivers, canals and sea areas in Europe and to introduce many people there with an ecological interest to the possibilities of solar boat mobility and on-board supply with alternative energy sources.
Itinerary
The world tour started on Wednesday, April 7th in Niederkassel-Mondorf in the old Sieg estuary on the Rhine. The journey did not take the easy route down the Rhine towards the sea, but upstream towards the source. The project should pass through as many cities in Europe as possible in order to introduce many people to the idea of boating without fuel. Past Koblenz , the Loreley , the Binger Loch , Wiesbaden-Schierstein , Mainz , Frankfurt am Main , Aschaffenburg , Wertheim , Würzburg , Schweinfurt , Bamberg , Nuremberg , Berching , Beilngries , Kelheim , Regensburg , Passau , Linz , Melk , Krems an der On the Danube , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade as far as Constanța in the Black Sea, the SolarWave traveled 3,000 kilometers over rivers and canals right through Europe. Only then did the real “seafaring” begin. After a further 2,000 kilometers (from now on in nautical miles : 1,111 NM) and the passage from the Bosporus and Dardanelles , the SolarWave reached the Greek Aegean island of Chios on October 20, 2010 , where it also spent the winter.
In spring 2011, her route led across the Aegean to Athens, where she completed many press appointments. She reached the Ionian Sea through the Corinth Canal. During the summer season in 2011 and 2012, she sailed with guests according to schedule between the Ionian Islands in order to demonstrate the functionality of the technology under harsh charter conditions. In total, the Solarwave had covered over 8,000 nautical miles by October 2012, 7,000 of which were absolutely self-sufficient, using only the energy obtained from the solar panels on board.
Records
The aim of the Solarwave project is not primarily to set records, but new territory is always being broken. The Solarwave catamaran is the first ocean-going boat that has been self-sufficient in energy with an electric drive and without the consumption of fossil fuels for propulsion and on-board operation and has sailed on the following waters without sails:
- Rhine upstream (Düsseldorf - Bonn - Bingener Loch - Mainz)
- Main and Main-Danube Canal
- Danube in its entire navigable length
- Black Sea
- Bosporus
- Sea of Marmara
- Dardanelles
- Aegean
- Ionian sea
- Mediterranean Sea
making it the first boat of its kind in Europe and Asia .
Technical specifications
- Type: SolarWave 46
- Length ü. a .: 13.90 m
- Width: 7.50 m
- Draft: 0.90 m
- Height: 4.50 m (including antenna / device carrier)
- Weight: 10 t
- Water tanks: 650 liters
- Top speed: approx. 8 knots (approx. 15 km / h)
- Cruising speed: 4–6 knots (approx. 7 - 11 km / h)
- Solar panels: approx. 8.5 kW (peak) , approx. 50 kWh of energy input per day
- Inboard electric motors: 2 × 10 kW asynchronous three-phase AC motor 48 volts, max. 600 amps, torque 125 Nm
- Batteries: 2010–2012: lead-gel traction 2 × 460 Ah 48 V and 2 × 190 Ah 12 V (almost 2 tons in total); from 2013: lithium polymer 2 × 200 Ah 48 V (total 150 kg)
- Electrical system: 12 V (navigation, light); 48 V (motors, inverters); 220 V (household).
- Navigation electronics : chart plotter , radar , log , plumb line , sonar
- Drinking water heater: approx. 1 ton / day
- Security: EPIRB , automatic identification system AIS, worldwide satellite-based positioning system, weather software , 2 anchors 30 and 20 kg; Ocean life raft for 8 people with ISAF pack, satellite phone with internet connection and much more.
Web links
- The Solarwave on ZDF
- The SolarWave on ORF
- The SolarWave on WDR television - maiden voyage 2010
- The SolarWave on SWR television
- The SolarWave on the Greek Lesvos TV
- The SolarWave on the Romanian TomisTV
- SolarWave's boat launch with Reiner Calmund on January 27, 2010
- Homepage of the " SolarWave - Austrian Society for Alternative Energy Concepts"
- Homepage of Solarwave AG
- Homepage of the Falk Viczian Solarboot Projects non-profit GmbH
Individual evidence
- ↑ Watersport magazine "boote" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Austrian magazine "Land-der-Erfinder.at"
- ↑ specialist magazine "oekonews.at"
- ↑ Hochseesport Magazin "ocean7": Solar catamaran reaches the sea
