The first great explorers of our planet were sailors. You had to be a brave soul to voluntarily embark on any seafaring journey. Scurvy, storms, and sharks were but a few of the terrors that awaited would-be sailors, who had to cross thousands of miles of ocean relying solely on wind power to get them to their destinations. Shipping has never been as clean and green as it was during the Age of Sail.
Today, most ships are used to haul goods moreso than people, and rely on heavy-oil burning engines. A huge container ship can emit as much pollution as 50 million cars. But on Thursday PlanetSolar unveiled the world’s largest solar-powered ship. Relying on about 38,000 solar cells, the PlanetSolar ship can achieve a top speed… of 9 mph. And that would be fast enough to make it the fastest solar ship to cross the Atlantic ocean.