Our Solar Boats

For 15 years, we have been inspiring the maritime industry with our flying solar boats. The team was founded in 2005. In 2010, the team made their solar boat fly! In 2019, the team designed and built a solar boat for the open sea. In addition to these enormous achievements, the team has accomplished much more!

Read more about that below, where you will find the many different designs for solar boats that the team has built.

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Boats

Have been built in the history of the TU Delft Solar Boat Team

Team 2006This is the first boat created by the TU Delft Solar Boat Team with the goal in mind of winning the first version of the Frisian Solar Challenge. They managed to achieve this goal and won the race with a considerable lead over the number two.
Team 2008In 2008 the team, then still under the name Delta Lloyd Solar Team, managed to win the Frisian Solar Challenge again with a lead of three hours on the number two. The boat has a very small underwater hull, a depth of 10 cm, which makes the resistance of the hull minimal. This design proved to be very popular: several teams used the mold to build their own solar boat in the years after 2008.
Team 2010In 2010, the team started using hydrofoils in the design for the first time. With this boat, the team finished third at the 2010 Frisian Solar Challenge. The hydrofoils ensure that the boat, when it reaches a certain speed, is lifted out of the water. In this way, the boat has a lot less resistance so that with the same power it can now sail about one and a half times as fast as the boat in 2008.
Team 2012In 2012, the team again succeeded in developing a boat that can hover just above the water at different speeds. It uses hydrofoils, which lift the entire boat out of the water. At high speeds, the angle of attack of the wings is changed to generate more or less lift. In this way, the boat can sail more stably.
Team 2014With this boat, the 2014 team scored high: it was the first boat with a double T-strut hydrofoil configuration that had ever appeared at the start of the DONG Energy Solar Challenge. The boat has two supports in the water, which gives it properties of an airplane as well as properties of a bicycle.
Team 2015In 2015, the boat built by the 2014 team was taken as the basis. They mainly redesigned the propulsion system which enabled the boat to reach a speed of 51 km/h, a record within the team. In 2015, the boat took third place at the Solar 1 Cup and won the design award at the DONG Energy Solar Challenge.
Team 2016The 2016 team completely redesigned the hull and improved the wings.This allowed this boat to reach speeds of up to 55 km/h, the officially measured speed record within the team! This year they participated in the Dutch Solar Challenge where a second place was achieved. In addition, they participated in the Monaco Solar Boat challenge where a second place was also achieved and the boat was awarded the Riva beauty award!
Team 2017The 2017 team improved manoeuvrability and stability by designing a boat with three hydrofoils. Despite this extra hydrofoil and larger hull, the boat achieved a speed of up to 48 km/h. This year they participated in the Monaco Solar Boat Challenge and wanted to cross the English Channel. This crossing was unfortunately cancelled due to the risks at that time.
Team 2018The 2018 team has again opted for the double T-strut configuration. With this, speeds of 50 km/h were achieved. Because there were elements in the races where efficiency and manoeuvrability were essential, a system was devised whereby the pilot could move the front and rear strut independently. The biggest challenges were to keep it as compact as possible and to guarantee ease of use during the race. In this year's Solar Sport One competition, the team won second prize.
Team 2019The 2019 team designed the first solar boat for open sea within the team. This boat is a trimaran and has not one, but three hulls. The boat is modular, which means it can be taken apart and assembled to be transported. With a sun deck of 28 square meters, this is the largest boat in the history of our team. In Monaco, the team became world champions in the 'offshore class'.
Team 2020The 2020 team has made the boat lighter and smaller, which has made for a very efficient boat. In fact, it can sail on only the power of a water cooker. In addition, the wings of the 2020 boat are made of carbon fibre which allowed for multiple sets of wings to be self-produced for different racing elements. The team competed in their self-organised race on the Ketelmeer. This was the last team that built a Solar Boat.

In 2021 we made the switch to hydrogen as our sustainable energy source. Visit our new website to learn all about this new step!

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