The idea of carrying out a great adventure to make people aware of the potential of solar power in meeting climate challenges came to me in Iceland.

Raphaël Domjan, an avid traveller and a great fan of this Nordic island first visited in 1993. He was struck by the grandeur of the glaciers and by the feeling of invulnerability that they exude.
When in 2004, during another trip to Iceland, he retraced the steps of his first visit Raphaël Domjan was stunned to see that one of the invincible glaciers he had admired some years before was no longer there.
Climate change was no longer a worry, it had become a tangible reality. Raphaël Domjan was shaken by this image and wanted to act to show there was an optimistic path to cope with climate change. So the idea was born: demonstrating the potential of renewable energies by a great adventure, a first Round the World tour using solar power.

When Raphaël Domjan returned to Switzerland he undertook the implementation of his idea. His Round the World tour would be in an entirely solar-powered boat. So he found a team and was soon to create a foundation, SolarPlanet, to bring his project to fruition. The project needed financing and, after years of searching, the German entrepreneur, Immo Ströher, took an interest in it and embarked on the adventure. He financed the expedition boat, named MS Tûranor PlanetSolar.

PlanetSolar was designed by the naval architect from New Zealand, Craig Loomes. In 2008, building began in Kiel Germany, in the Knierim Yachtbau shipyard.. It finished in 2010 and PlanetSolar was launched in the port of Kiel before being ferried to the Mediterranean.

On 25 February 2010 more than 200 guests attended the unveiling of PlanetSolar in Kiel. Shortly afterwards, on 31 March, the largest catamaran in the world felt the lap of the water for the first time in Kiel, to the unconcealed emotion of the team which had made this moment possible. After sea trials she was ferried to the Mediterranean.

2004

The idea is born

2006

Project launch in Yverdon-les-Bains (Vaud, Switzerland)

2008

Start of the PlanetSolar build

2010

Start of the Round the World tour

2012

Accomplishment of the first solar-powered Round the World tour

Relive the adventure of the first Round the World tour using solar energy with the section, Relive the adventure, using the interactive map of the Round the World as well as the entire log.