Solar Boat Twente set out to stimulate environmental awareness by applying renewable energy to the maritime sector. Each year, a multidisciplinary team of enthusiastic students build a solar-powered boat. By pushing boundaries, the team embraces a major challenge: designing and building the motorboat of tomorrow. Sustainability and efficiency go hand in hand, and while both are major aspects of our project, sometimes they clash. That’s where it gets interesting. What collateral damage to the earth is acceptable to gain extra efficiency? And how much efficiency loss are we willing to accept for a greener future?
Solar Boat Twente’s goal is to sail a reliable, stable-flying (hydrofoil) boat at multiple national and international competitions to demonstrate green benefits.
The boat is 6.5m long and 1.5m wide, however, it only weighs around 120kg! All materials are carefully selected based on their weight, durability and strength. The latter is especially important, as water places enormous stress on some parts.
Hydrofoiling is relatively new to the maritime industry and is rapidly gaining popularity. An underwater aeroplane-like wing enables the hull of the boat to lift out of the water, making the boat fly. This minimizes water resistance, greatly improving efficiency.
Solar Boat Twente’s goal is to sail a reliable, stable-flying (hydrofoil) boat at multiple national and international competitions to demonstrate green benefits.
The boat is 6.5m long and 1.5m wide, however, it only weighs around 120kg! All materials are carefully selected based on their weight, durability and strength. The latter is especially important, as water places enormous stress on some parts.
Hydrofoiling is relatively new to the maritime industry and is rapidly gaining popularity. An underwater aeroplane-like wing enables the hull of the boat to lift out of the water, making the boat fly. This minimizes water resistance, greatly improving efficiency.
Annually, a multidisciplinary group of students devotes an entire year to this project. This fresh team every year brings new insights to an industry that has been stable for decades. Sometimes mistakes are made, but more importantly, this gives us the freedom of independent design.
Remarks
Solar Boat Twente would not be able to do this work without partners and sponsors.
