Turkish shipyard Nedship has teamed with Solarwave to create a new series of zero emission solar yacht designs. After nutting out the concept and spending four years testing the technology, the very first Solarwave 62' model is now approaching completion.
Solarwave 62' combines a carbon composite hull design from Nedship's Dr. Orhan Celikkol and Michael Köhler's Solar Energy system to create a luxurious 62 foot catamaran that's capable of operating with zero emissions. According to the Nedship the yacht can achieve unlimited range under normal circumstances, at a cruising speed equal to sailing cats.
"We have been working on this concept since 2008," Egon Faiss, Marketing Director at Nedship Group told Gizmag. "We first built a 60 ft. passenger cat that was all solar and realized that with a little more effort it would be totally conceivable to create a luxury yacht, with all of its cruising energy needs. Dr. Orhan Çelikkol, our head designer, started working on the project and after almost a year came out with yacht design that would actually work."
The yacht's roof is clad with a 15 kW photovoltaic array connected to a series of 100 kWh batteries. The number of batteries can change depending on the yacht owner's needs. The system is designed to provide enough energy for the yacht to cruise on zero emissions, as well as power all household appliances on board (night and day).
"Our yacht is a real solar powered yacht, most solar powered yachts only use the solar panels to support their electrical system ... a little bit," says Faiss. "Ours allows unlimited use without refueling."
With two e-motors (41 kW continuous and 62 kW peak) on board, the yacht can cruise at speeds between 7 and 13 knots without the need to utilize additional fuel sources during sunny conditions and light winds. When the vessel is moored in the marina and there is no need to hook up to a power supply and night time cruising is also possible, with the distance and speed dependent on the the size of the battery bank. There's also a standard emergency generator included – with the Solarwave 62' is 8 kW, but Nedship will also offer upgrades from 12 to 20 kW, or a 30 kW MME turbine generator.
"We can play with the size of the engines according to special client wishes," says Faiss. "We also want to point out, that there is more or less no maintenance needed on the e-motors compared with traditional diesel engines."
Of course, to get full benefit from the Solarwave owners will have to change some habits, including being diligent when it comes to things like switching off appliances when not in use.
Other major features of the Solarwave 62' design include a retractable sky roof, a 6.5m (21.3 ft) tender garage, a modern luxury interior complete with full kitchen and lounge, three to five guest cabins, an additional cabin for crew, rear and front sun decks and ample outdoor dining space.
"Most of the furniture is a part of the structure, which saves weight and brings more space," says Faiss.
Nedship will also offer a hybrid version of the Solarwave 62', which will incorporate D3 VolvoPenta 220 hp engines, allowing the vessel to exceed 20 knots. The hybrid system can be used in 3 modes: Pure electric, Diesel propulsion or Booster mode (both systems together).
In addition, a special sail assisted version of the Solarwave 62' will be available for owners looking for a more sportive, hands-on yacht. More models are also in the works – the Relax 72' and tri-deck Eclipse 85’, which are based on a similar concept but boast much more space.
The Solarwave 62' is expected to be ready by October/November this year and will cost between 2 and 2.5 million euro (US$2.25 - 2.5million).
Faiss says this puts it more or less in the price range of comparable catamaran yachts of the same size, and expects it to hold its value better than conventional yachts.
We'll watch this pace with interest – stay tuned for photos and more details on this solar super yacht once it is launched. In the meantime you can check out the detailed renderings in the gallery.
Source: Solarwave and Nedship Group
