Solar Catamaran can Sail 100 Miles a Day
To reduce carbon emissions and the pollution level in the world, the whole world is trying to invent ways to use renewable energy sources. Administrative authorities of many countries are now emphasizing solar energy as the best alternative to electricity which is mostly made by burning fossil fuel. Many of the rail stations and large establishments are installing solar panels so that they can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
In this regard, some of the catamaran manufacturing companies are also incorporating high-power solar energy-driven engines into the boats. One of these companies is Silent Yachts, which was founded by Heike and Michael Kohle. They sailed a distance of nearly 75,000 nautical miles. Seeing the pollution in the ocean water, they started thinking about substituting fossil fuel with some clean energy. They finally found that solar energy could be the best alternative to propel the yachts instead of fossil fuel.
The research to make suitable solar energy engines to make the yachts sail was started in 2004. The research findings got incorporated into the Solarwave 46 which was a self-sufficient solar energy-driven catamaran. After a trial of 5 years starting from 2010, silent yachts proved that the concept of solar yachts is not a dream and they started the production of luxury vessels which will not pollute the ocean water. This was a very important step towards the goal of sustainable development. The first of this kind of vessel was made in 2016 named Silent 64. This boat became the first such solar-powered catamaran to sail on the water in 2018 and it crossed the Atlantic Ocean in just 16 days. The journey started from Cartagena, Spain, and ended in the BVI.
Silent Yachts joined hands with the Volkswagen Group in the year 2020. Due to this, Silent Yachts will get all the equipment and necessary supplies to make good quality yachts. Volkswagen will also supply them with the batteries and other tech support to Silent Yachts. The first yacht of the joint initiative will be made with the help of Cupra and that will be utilized by VW’s MEB platform. Silent 60 was another yacht that was launched in the first part of 2021 and it was more powerful than the previous one Silent 64. The newly designed Silent 60 will have its different place among those catamarans which are made to keep the sustainability of the ecosystem unbroken.
With the solar-powered engine to stop pollution, the designers have also thought of something new that will help the yacht sail even faster. It is an additional kite wing that will help the yacht to get its speed with the help of wind. This will be the first vessel that will contain a 13 square meter kite wing to get acceleration. The kite will get into the air as it will drift away when the vessel is on the water. The kite will look like a digital 8 and will generate additional power.