The TU Delft Solar Boat Team will compete with a hydrogen boat in the 2021 Monaco Solar & Energy Boat Challenge. The team thus aims to become even more relevant to the maritime industry.
The TU Delft team has focused on developing solar-powered boats for 15 years. Since the team was founded in 2015 by a number of Maritime Engineering students, thirteen different teams have realised a total of 12 boats. The team previously designed a new boat every two years, updating and optimising the previous year's boat. In 2016, the team broke with this tradition and switched to building an entirely new boat every year. The team works closely with a wide range of industry partners.
Carrier wings
Over the years, different structures have been used by the team for the team's boats. For example, since 2010, hydrofoils have been used, which lift the solar boat out of the water to a significant extent. This reduces resistance in the water.
Since 2014, the team has been using a pair of struts, which are basically T-shaped hydrofoils. This lifts the hull completely out of the water while sailing. With this design, the boat managed to reach a speed of 51 km/h in 2015, which is a record for the team. In 2016, this record was broken with a speed of 55 km/h.
Sailing on the power of a kettle
Last year, the focus was on the solar boat's energy consumption. The 2020 edition therefore featured a smaller solar deck, which also allowed the hull to be made smaller. This led to a large reduction in drag. The 2020 solar boat could therefore sail on the power of a kettle.
"For comparison; in ten minutes of showering you use more energy than our battery can store. With this small amount of energy, our solar boat can reach a maximum speed of 55 km/h and sail at cruise speed for hours on end!", the team reports on its website.
Hydro Motion
In 2021, the team will start a new project called 'Hydro Motion'. Within this project, the TU Delft Solar Boat Team will focus on developing a hydrogen-powered boat. The sustainable storage of energy is central to this. "Hydrogen is ideal for this and has enormous potential. We want to inspire the entire maritime industry by showing what is possible with a hydrogen-powered boat. Together, we can take the necessary steps towards sustainable shipping," the team writes on its website.
With this new boat, the team will compete in the 2021 Monaco Solar & Energy Boat Challenge, which will be organised on the Monaco open sea. Details about the boat are not known.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
