---
title: "“Solar Voyager” Attempts the First Solar-Powered Crossing of the Atlantic"
description: "The Solar Voyager—a fully solar, fully autonomous boat—is making its way across the Atlantic in what will hopefully result in the first solar-powered crossing of the ocean."
date: "2016-06-13"
modified: "2016-06-13"
authors:
  - name: "Jelor Gallego"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jelor-gallego.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/solar-voyager-attempts-the-first-solar-powered-crossing-of-the-atlantic"
categories:
  - "Energy"
  - "Renewable Energy"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Solar Power"
tags:
  - "autonomous boats"
  - "Autonomous vehicles"
  - "Boats"
  - "solar power"
  - "Solar Voyager"
---

# “Solar Voyager” Attempts the First Solar-Powered Crossing of the Atlantic

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/A-Solar-Voyager.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="http://www.solar-voyager.com/" target="\_blank"\>Solar Voyager\</a\>\</em\>*

[*Solar Impulse* is making huge news](<https://futurism.com/solar-impulse-2-makes-phoenix-quest-fuel-free-flight.md>) in its lofty goal of crossing the world completely powered by solar. If completed, the flight will be the first to have circumnavigated the globe without any conventional fuel. But another solar-powered vehicle is looking to make its own mark in history:[ a fully solar journey across the Atlantic.](<http://techcrunch.com/2016/06/08/solar-voyager-autonomous-boat-looks-to-make-history-in-sun-powered-journey-across-the-atlantic/>)

The *Solar Voyager,* a completely autonomous vehicle, is the brainchild of Isaac Penny and Christopher Sam Soon. It has been in the making for four years now, and was just launched on June 1. It started from Boston and, if all goes well, will arrive in Lisbon, Portugal sometime this Fall.

![undefined](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/00230_solar-voyager-ocean-test.jpg>)
*The *Solar Voyager*. Credit: TechCrunch*

But unlike *Solar Impulse*, the *Voyager* is not the baby of a team of pilots and engineers. Its inventors built it from scratch, with only the solar panels and some standard motor parts taken off the shelf.

From a jury-rigged plastic kayak, the boat evolved to have a full-on custom aluminum hull with home-made, home-tested propulsion and electronics. It has a 280-watt solar array, a specially made fouling-resistant propeller, and a barnacle-resistant coating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL6Xwb8CuMo

The two hope to see *Voyager* in Portugal by October, and have set up a website that [tracks its location every 15 minutes](<http://www.solar-voyager.com/trackatlantic.html>).

## More

- [Solar Impulse 2 Resumes Its Round-The-World Flight](<https://futurism.com/solar-impulse-2-resumes-round-world-flight.md>)
- [New Voyager Readings: Space Is Much Denser Outside Solar System](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-voyager-space-denser-outside-solar-system-surprise-astronomers.md>)
- [Solar Impulse 2 Becomes the First Fuel-Free Plane to Circumnavigate the Globe](<https://futurism.com/solar-impulse-2-becomes-the-first-fuel-free-plane-to-circumnavigate-the-globe.md>)
- [The World’s First Power Plant Combining Hydroelectricity and Solar Energy Is Now Open](<https://futurism.com/the-worlds-first-power-plant-combining-hydroelectricity-and-solar-energy-is-now-open.md>)
- [NASA Powers Down Equipment on Voyager Probes as They Struggle for Life](<https://futurism.com/nasa-powers-down-equipment-voyager-probes.md>)
- [The World’s First Fully Solar-Powered Train Just Left the Station](<https://futurism.com/worlds-first-fully-solar-powered-train-left-station.md>)
- [Welcome to the Age of Solar Powered Electric Vehicles](<https://futurism.com/welcome-to-the-age-of-solar-powered-electric-vehicles.md>)
- [Japan is Building The World’s Largest Floating Solar Power Plant](<https://futurism.com/japan-building-worlds-largest-floating-solar-power-plant.md>)