MS TURANOR PlanetSolar
The first and largest solar cells powered boat, MS Turanor PlanetSolar circumnavigates the globe. The ship's route is via the Atlantic on a voyage totalling 50,000 km. : The Panama Canal, The Pacific, The Indian Ocean, and the Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean again. The PlanetSolar shall promote the sustainability and efficiency of renewable energy in the ports of Miami, Cancun, Brisbane, Hongkong, Manila, Singapore, Mumbai and Abu Dhabi. The first solar boat round the world expedition started in Monaco on September 27, 2010 and the cruise is expected to be finished in 2012. Do you know that the word "Turanor" was derived from the movie "Lord of the Rings?" "Turanor" means "Power of the Sun." or SunPower which coincidentally is the name of my company which manufactures high efficiency solar cells. SunPower has two manufacturing facilities in the Philippines located in Laguna and Batangas and I am proud to say that all the 38,000 solar cells used in the solar boat were made by Filipinos. Cheers !!!
July 21, 2011 : The Arrival of MS PlanetSolar in the Philippines
The MS Turanor PlanetSolar arrived in Manila last July 21, 2011 and our company, SunPower is primarily the host of their visit in the Philippines. This project was entrusted to us by my former boss, Greg Reichow before he left the company. The members of the PlanetSolar Event Committee headed by our QA Director ~Jong Jimenez, HR Director for Employee Engagement ~ Cherie Ocampo, Security Manager ~ Henry Castaneda, Marketing Coordinator from SunPower Korea ~ Jenny Kwon and myself were so busy for a couple of months preparing for their arrival. Originally, the expected arrival date was July 25 but we were surprised later on to get the information that the boat is arriving earlier on July 21. Well, the "Power of the Sun" plus the high efficiency of SunPower solar cells made the travel faster.
MS Turanor PlanetSolar is anchored at the Philippine Navy Headquarter in Manila. Thanks to the hospitality of the Philippine Navy !!!
Here I am and my colleague with the PlanetSolar boat behind us ! Cool ! We are wearing our SunPower shirt.
The crews were busy preparing to anchor the boat
The crews met the Immigration personnel at the port
The SunPower PlanetSolar Committee with Jurg Casserini, the Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, Switzerland Embassy Manila
With PlanetSolar Team
Lunch with the PlanetSolar Team at the Ilang-Ilang Restaurant, Manila Hotel
July 25, 2011 : PlanetSolar Team Visits SunPower Philippines
The PlanetSolar team were invited to visit SunPower fabrication facilities in Laguna and Batangas and the module operation. Our VP for Engineering, Chuck Stone accompanied them during the tours. The crews were impressed with the manufacturing facilities. On that same day, there was a symposium in the afternoon entitled "Technological Development of Solar Energy and Advanced Scientific Research" which highlighted the PlanetSolar Project. The PlanetSolar Crews headed by its Founder and Skipper ~ Raphael Domjan, Capt. Erwann Le Rouzic, Communication Officer ~ Tobias Wuelser, Electrical Engineer ~ Christian Ochsenbein and Bosun ~ Thomas David were there to present the PlanetSolar project. Top 10 % SunPower engineers and professors from different universities were invited in the Symposium. There was a good Q and A session at the end of the presentation.
SunPower Philippine employees at Cell Fab 2, Batangas with the PlanetSolar Team
With the PlanetSolar Team : From left, Capt. Erwann Le Rouzic, Thomas David (Bosun), Mary Anne Meneses (SunPower HR Mgr), Christian Ochsenbein (Electrical Engr.), myself, Raphael Domjan (Founder and Skipper) and Tobias Wuelser (Communication Officer)
The PlanetSolar Team : From left, Thomas David (Bosun), Tobias Wuelser (Communication Officer), Erwann Le Rouzic (Captain), Christian Ochsenbein (Electrical Engr) and Raphael Domjan (Founder & Skipper)
The PlanetSolar Team with Fab 2 VP for Operations, Boy Alfelor and other SunPower employees
The Symposium attendees
July 27, 2011 : MS Turanor PlanetSolar Welcome Event
This is the big day ! We have the PlanetSolar external VIP Welcome Event with the media. The Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Hon. Jejomar Binay attended the occasion and gave a great remarks during the event. The SunPower Chief Operating Officer, Marty Neese who is currently my boss as Acting VP for SunPower Phils. Operations gave a meaningful speech on all important points about SunPower, The PlanetSolar and future investment plans. The portion in his speech that I liked the most is when he said that :
1. All the SunPower solars cells mounted on the boat were produced at the Philippine fabrication facilities
2. We should be proud of the significant contributions of the Filipinos in the PlanetSolar's unprecedented 50,000 km. voyage through five continents.
We are proud of PlanetSolar ! From left, Antoinette, Cherie, myself, Mary Anne and Ranel
Beautiful ladies to welcome the guests ! From left, Abigail, Mary Anne, Antonette, Cherie Ocampo, our HR Director for Employee Engagement and yours truly, Elvie
Getting ready at the Registration Table
With our PR Agency, Olgilvy : From right ~ Jenny Kwon (SunPower Korea Marketing Coordinator), me, Natalie Wymer (SunPower U.S. Sr. Director for Communications) and three ladies from our PR agent, Olgilvy
The Stage at the Philippine Navy Headquarter
The arrival of Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Hon. Jejomar Binay at the Philippine Navy
From right : Lilia De Lima ~ PEZA Director General, Marty Neese ~ SunPower Chief Operating Officer, Jejomar Binay ~ Hon. Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Raphael Domjan ~ PlanetSolar Founder and Skipper, and RADM Orwen Cortez, AFP ~ Vice Commander of Philippine Navy
SunPower Chief Operating Officer, Marty Neese during his speech
Remarks from the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Hon. Jejomar Binay
Me and my boss, Marty Neese (Chief Operating Officer and Acting VP for SunPower Philippines Operation)
SunPower COO, Marty Neese (Middle) with the two QA Directors from Cell Fab and Module Operations, Jong Jimenez and Winston Guinto
With Zachary Struyk (Director for Components Sales, Asia ~ SunPower Korea) and Vincent Beaurain (Solution Mgr. for Solar Cells ~ SunPower Germany)
The Cocktail food during the event
July 27, 2011 : PlanetSolar Boat Tour
The guests were invited for a boat tour after the Welcome activity. Each guest were given a number at the Registration Area for their Boat Tour. They were divided into groups since the boat can only accommodate 15-20 people at a time.
MS Turanor PlanetSolar
Key Features of the Boat :
Length - 31 m
Beam - 15 m
Length with flaps - 35 m
Height - 6.10 m above waterline
Weight - 95 T
Surface of Solar Modules - 536.65 m2
Power Solar Generator - 93.5 kw
Lithium-ion Batteries - 648
Battery Voltage - 388 v
Motors - 2 on each side
Nominal Power - 2 x 10 kw
Diameter propellers - 2 m
Crew - 4 to 6
Autonomy - 3 days without sun
Getting ready for the Boat Tour
Some guests inside the boat
MS Turanor PlanetSolar boat is powered by 38,000 SunPower high efficiency Solar cells produced in the Philippines manufacturing facilities
Plaques from different countries they have visited
Raphael Domjar, Founder and skipper talking about the boat's features
The instrumentation panel board
Captain Erwann Le Rouzic talking about the weather tracker
Captain Erwann Le Rouzic and myself
The Kitchen
The Bar table
The Food Container
Tobias Wuelser showing some videos
A taste of Swiss Coffee courtesy of Christian Ochsenbein, Electrical Engr. of PlanetSolar
The Dining Area
At the Viewing Deck with Tobias Wuelser
This contains an enclosed life boat for emergency
Souvenirs given to them from various countries they already visited
The Living Area
Mary Anne with Yen and Capt. Erwann Le Rouzic
The electric bike
Relaxing after the event at the Tokyo Cafe
4 comments:
This is great achievement Elvie! I wonder 93.5KW are enough to pull all this boat, of course there are motors and generator but how fast the boat can go? Also, since this is prototype when will be on the market and how much will cost?
It must be exhausting to organize this event by yourself?!
Interesting article. Enjoyed.
http://www.pfinusa.com
http://www.pfinusa.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comments Terrans !
The difference between the solar ship TURANOR PLANETSOLAR and a regular motor vessel is in the energy management. With a motor vessel you know how many nautical miles you can sail according to bunker capacity. With a solar boat like TURANOR PLANETSOLAR, there is approximately up to three days of energy available from the batteries. There is a need to adapt the consumption, which means the speed, according to the weather, in order to always maintain a minimum level of energy and for safety.
The expedition so far is doing great and I believed that in the future, Planetsolar may commercially manufacture the boat. The cost of building that boat is about USD 24.4 Million. For update on the PlanetSolar, you may visit their website :www.planetsolar.org
Good day! Ms. Elvie, I was wondering if SunPower is accepting interns for Summer 2012. I'm Ghizelle, a Materials Engineering student from UP Diliman. My professor actually recommended this company for our summer plant practice. Your reply will be highly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Ghizelle,
Sorry but I am not the right person to address this. This is under our Human Resources Dept. so I am not sure. So far, I have not heard/met any interns at SunPower in the past years. Some UP professors may have some contacts with our HR since I remember HR invited professors from different Universities during the Planet Solar Event. They can inquire with HR about it.
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