PHOTO: World’s largest solar vessel to sail around the world

The world’s largest solar vessel to sail around the world is at Sunset Harbor Marina in Miami Beach.

From New Times:
In theory, Miami is a perfect pit stop for any solar-powered vehicle — hell, it’s the sunniest city in the Sunshine State. But in practice, this town’s been overcast and soggy for weeks now.

Luckily, the crew of the MS Tûranor PlanetSolar came with their batteries charged.

The ship — the world’s largest solar-powered vessel to sail around the world — sailed into Sunset Harbour Yacht Club this week on a 16-city tour to research climate change. And Cultist had the chance to check out the 102-foot catamaran firsthand.

The PlanetSolar boasts 29,124 photovoltaic cells that capture the sun’s energy and use it to fuel almost ten tons of lithium-ion batteries. With that amount of weight, the PlanetSolar isn’t exactly built for speed–it travels at an average of 5 knots, or little more than 5.5 mph. (Still, it broke a Guinness World Record for “completing the fastest transatlantic crossing with a solar boat, solely operated without any fuel or CO2 emissions.”)

Find out more at www.planetsolar.org.

Post provided by Miami Yacht Club