Hotel conceptions utilizing solar energy are not really a new idea, especially when we consider the slew of green technologies flooding our modernistic avenues. However, a luxury floating hotel conception that would use low cost, dye sensitized solar cells certainly insinuates a scope of novelty and exoticism. Italian industrial designer Michele Puzzolante has conceptualized his floating masterpiece with exclusive self sustaining capacity in terms of power. Christened simply as the Solar Floating Resort, the hotel has been envisaged as a fusion of both a cruise ship and an underwater platform. With its capacity of six 'resident' passengers, the craft will travel around the world along various paradisaical coasts. This navigating pleasure will be notched up to yet another level with a special arrangement that would allow
its passengers to experience wild marine life forms. The Solar Floating Resort will have a 20m (66ft) long deck with a myriad of spatial denominations. The comprehensive 110 sq m (1184 sq ft) interior space will include two double and two single bedrooms with bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, lounge area and bridge. Finally, the 'piece the resistance' of the whole structure will consist of an observation pod built into the hull of the craft. This underwater platform can be used for exhilarating views into the
deep mysteries of the unfathomable ocean. The designer has revealed very few technical specifications of the luxury craft. However, there are some structural considerations that relate to the aforementioned energy autonomy of the whole system. For example, the Solar Floating Resort will be constructed from dual layers of fiberglass reinforced balsa wood, 15mm (0.6 inches) in thickness. These layers will have a vacuum zone of 30cm (11.8 inches) width between them for enhanced insulation (which would
lower energy loss). The layers will also be embedded with dye sensitized solar cells both from the inner and outer sections. The two faceted techniques allows for solar energy to be captured from natural sunlight as well as interior artificial lighting. Moreover, the dye sensitized solar cells are generally accepted to be more cost effective and flexible than regular photovoltaic mechanisms. Source: Bisarbeat:
