Sunday, June 3, 2012

Solar-Powered Floating Island

Solar-Powered Floating Island is an Off-Shore Green Retreat Solar Floating Resort
by Michele Puzzolante

Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

The ship features a thin film solar skin applied to a lightweight balsa-reinforced fiberglass hull. 
OK, we’ve seen concepts like this for years now – round floating retreats complete with a transparent room in the belly to see all the fish swim by. The idea is certainly appealing considering the fact that the world’s rising oceans make on-shore resorts a bit tenuous. Puzzolante takes the issue of raising oceans more seriously with his interpretation, as the SFR is a fully self-supporting design. The ship features a thin-film solar skin applied to a lightweight balsa-reinforced fiberglass hull. The round shape of the vessel provides constant exposure to the sun, feeding batteries during daylight hours to supply clean energy through the night.

The interior skin is also layered in dye-sensitized thin-film PV to absorb artificial light at night, creating a 30mm vacuum with the outer layer. While original, this setup is both extraordinarily expensive and impractical – but hey we’re on vacation.

The 110 square meter deck provides plenty of room for private amenities for six guests. The interior is cleverly laid out to provide both quiet niches and grand views. For instance, the attached baths have a space-saving water closet hanging off the tub. The core of the space is a large kitchen and bar, with a center spiral staircase leading down to the observation bulb. The lowest room lets guests indulge in a bit of extreme underwater tourism.

+ Michele Puzzolante

http://inhabitat.com/solar-powered-floating-island-is-an-off-shore-eco-retreat/solar-floating-resort-by-michele-puzzolante-5/?extend=1#

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Solar Floating Resort is good. Do you solve the shaking problems? As you see, you have to reduce the Rolling and Pitch. Because, the shaking makes many kinds of problems in the floating resort! New Floating Body Stabilizer has been created in South Korea. I'm sure that you need this Idea. The Floating Body Stabilizers generate drag force immediately when Solar Floating Resort is being rolled and pitched on the water. Recently, this Floating Body Stabilizers have been used to reduce the Vibration of Floating Solar Panels in South Korea. You can see the Floating Body Stabilizer in YouTube. http://youtu.be/O2oys_YHhCc, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA_xFp5ktbU&feature=youtu.be.

Unknown said...
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