Solar Water World

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SolarWaterWorld AG
legal form Corporation
founding March 2001
Seat Berlin GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Tim-Derek Schultze
Branch shipping
Website https://www.solarwaterworld.de

The Solar Water World AG , proper spelling SolarWaterWorld AG, established in March 2001 by the naval architect Thomas Meyer in Hameln founded. The previous institution was the Institute for Solar Shipbuilding in Hameln. In 2008 the company's headquarters were relocated to Berlin-Kreuzberg .

Development, manufacture and sale of solar boats

The aim of the company is the development, manufacture and sale of solar boats and solar ships. In addition to the sale, Solar Water World operates the rental of solar boats and the planning for future public transport with solar-electric passenger ships in Berlin and other cities. For this purpose, the Solar Circle Line was founded with a minority stake by Stern und Kreisschiffahrt (24.9%). With the support of the Berlin Senate, the Solar Circle Line has commissioned two solar-electric passenger ships for 180 people each from the Kiebitzberg shipyard in Havelberg .

history

The Berlin shipbuilding engineer Thomas Meyer, the founder of Solar Water World, worked on the optimization of underwater lines of ships after studying at the Research Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Shipbuilding at the Technical University of Berlin . Low resistance of the underwater hull is an important prerequisite for solar ships, because the resistance of a ship with a solar electric drive in the water must be as low as possible.

The predecessor institution of Solar Water World was the Institute for Solar Shipbuilding in Hameln for the investigation and development of solar-electric boats and ships. Here Meyer worked intensively on the development of solar ships . With his partner, the electrical engineer Dirk Tegtmeyer, the photovoltaics and the electrical systems of the ships were designed and dimensioned. Meyer designed, built and rented small numbers of solar-powered ships at its shipyard in Köpenick. At that time, the Skysail prototype was also conceived and built here together with Stefan Wrage , and initial attempts were made with it on the Müggelsee in Köpenick .

Design, construction and construction of solar boats

The construction of solar boats began in 1997 with the two-seater Suncat 12 and was continued in 1999 with the construction of the eight-seater Suncat 21. In March 2001 Meyer founded Solar Water World AG in Hameln and in 2008 the company's headquarters were relocated to the Berlin district of Kreuzberg. Meyer took over the solar boat filling station that he opened in Berlin-Köpenick in 1995. In 2005, the Suncat 23 series with twelve seats was built. The SunCat 23 is manufactured by Horizon Yachts in KaohSiung, Taiwan, the exterior design is by the designer JC Espinosa.

The prototype of the Suncat 58, built in Switzerland by the MWLine shipyard near Yverdo, was created in 2006 and the same year the boat started to cross the Atlantic . Starting in December 2006, the prototype of the Suncat 58 drove only with solar power from Seville, Spain, via Cape Verde to the Caribbean and on to Florida. From there it went along the American coast to New York, where the boat arrived at the beginning of May 2007 after around 7,000 nautical miles. A solar boat has never been on the high seas for so long.

The solar ship Solon in Berlin on the Spree

In 2009 the Suncat 58 Solon for 60 people was christened by the then governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit . The shell and the hulls of the 17 m long and 6.60 m wide charter ship came from Switzerland, the design of the flow-optimized hulls was made by Thomas Meyer and the interior of the ship was carried out by Bootsmanufaktur GmbH Berlin . 24 solar modules with an output of 5.6 kWp are located on the roof of the ship, with which up to 60 people can travel at the same time.

The Suncat 46 followed in 2010/2012, a solar-powered liner made of glass fiber reinforced plastic for 45 people.

One of SolarWaterWorld application made to promote the planning and construction of solar-powered passenger ship type Suncat 120 was in 2014 by the Berlin Senate approved. It led to the support of the Senate for the construction of two passenger ships for 180 people. The construction of the ships began in 2018. The "Port of the Future" for solar boats was completed in Berlin in 2017 and in autumn 2019 the first of the two passenger ships was delivered from the shipyard in Havelberg. The second will follow in spring 2020, when the joint baptism is also planned.

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