Resorts/Travel

There is more electrical energy created by the sun in one hour than the entire world use in one year and the amount of solar energy reaching the surface of the planet is so vast that in 365 days there is about twice as much energy as will ever be obtained from all of the Earth’s non-renewable resources of coal, oil, natural gas, and mined uranium combined.

Convinced that solar energy is the solution to global warming and environment issues, Michele Puzzolante, Italian Industrial Designer, decided to get involved in the green energy new era by inventing a “unique building integrated photovoltaic concept totally self-sufficient non-polluting energy generator,”that is in harmony with its natural surroundings, says Puzzolante the mastermind behind the concept of the Solar Floating Resort (SFR).

“SFR is a unique building integrated photovoltaic hospitality concept, part habitation, part yacht and part submarine,” continues Puzzolante.

Based on industrial design rather than traditional architecture, the SFR uses advanced materials, systems and techniques that have been applied successfully in the car and naval industries. Based on a new structural element that is composed of a fifteen millimeter outside skin and a fifteen millimeter inside skin in balsa reinforced fiberglass, the SFR’s thin films photovoltaic are integrated into the two skins to absorb sunlight energy from the outside and artificial lighting energy from the inside.

The electrical current produced by the thin films photovoltaic is stored in batteries with an inverter converting direct current (DC)  into alternative current (AC) providing energy to the electrical and propulsion systems. These thin films photovoltaic employ a dye that absorbs light and transforms it into electricity. Known as artificial photosynthesis, a molecule of chlorophyll absorbs light and generates electrical charges and then those charges are conducted to produce an electrical current which is stored into batteries.

The design calls for two single and two double bedrooms, each with private a bathroom. A large kitchen, a dining area, a lounge area and a pilot room complete the 110 m2 interior layout, treated in the purest Italian style. Outside, the teak deck is set up with a large semicircular lounge/dining area, six individual day beds and a six seat Jacuzzi.

One part luxury yacht, one part luxury hotel suiteand one part submarine – with a fully submerged observation bulb that seats 6 comfortablyallowing for up close encounters withexotic marine life – the SFR is twenty meters in length and capable of accommodating up to six people at sea but is also ideal for marinas connected to beach front hotels or island resorts