text: The solar-powered MS Turanor PlanetSolar crosses the finish line of its trip around the world at the Hercule Harbor in Monaco. (Laurent Gillieron / Associated Press / ) 
   
   In the spring of 2004 Raphael Domjan, a Swiss electrical engineer, conceived of a borderline insane idea -- to travel around the world aboard a ship powered entirely by solar energy. 
   
   It would be an adventure and a statement. If he could do it, he would prove to the world that there are other alternatives to powering sea travel besides fossil fuels and wind. It would also demonstrate just what solar power is capable of. 
   
   In 2008 he formed a partnership with German entrepreneur Immo Stroeher, who helped provide the funds to make this idea possible. 
   
   And now, eight years later, Domjan's dream is a reality: On Friday, the solar-powered MS Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran pulled into port in Monaco after completing a 37,294-mile journey around the world. 
   
   "We have shown that we have the technologies as well as the knowledge to become sustainable and safeguard our blue planet," Domjan said in a statement. 
   
   The ship, designed by New Zealander Craig Loomes, is made of a durable lightweight carbon material and is covered with 38,000 solar cells that feed power to six blocks of lithium-ion batteries. 
   
   "Each new sunrise provides the catamaran with the light needed to continue its journey," the PlanetSolar team wrote on its website. 
   
   It took the 115-foot boat 584 days -- roughly 19 month -- to make it all around the world. That is admittedly not a super-fast pace. 
   
   But there were stops along the way to promote solar power and even an encounter with pirates. There was also some waiting for the sun to come up to power those lithium batteries. 
   
   Now that the Domjan has completed his mission, he and the team at PlanetSolar will have to figure out what do with the ship. 
   
   "We are considering renting out the boat for scientific or commercial uses or even selling it," Stroeher told Wired. "We are open for ideas and in talks with interested parties -- from the use as a 'green' luxury yacht to scientific usages and the utilization as the world’s largest mobile solar power battery, everything is possible." 
   
   Go green! 
   
   ALSO: 
   
   Yahoo confirms misleading info on new CEO's resume 
   
   California to reap windfall from Mark Zuckerberg in Facebook IPO 
   
   3-D holographic video conferencing is real? Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi! ||||| European Pressphoto Agency 
   
   On Friday, if all goes well, a sleek spaceship-like catamaran will glide into Hercule Harbor in Monaco after a remarkable 19-month journey around the globe. 
   
   Since it set sail from Monaco in September 2010, the Turanor PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar-powered boat has crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific, passed through the Panama and Suez canals and stopped in Miami; Cancún, Mexico; Brisbane, Australia; Singapore; Abu Dhabi and many places in between. 
   
   At 2.15 p.m. local time, it is expected to cross the official finish line, having proved that solar energy can power a boat all the way around the world. 
   
   PlanetSolar is the brainchild of Raphaël Domjan, who is Swiss and a former ambulance driver and mountain guide. He enlisted enough sponsors to finance the creation of the surreal vessel. The goal, he said in a telephone interview this week from aboard the ship, was to spread the message that solar power can be harnessed for far more than it is doing now. 
   
   
   
   As I wrote not long after the PlanetSolar stopped in Hong Kong, where I am based, the boat was conceived as a test concept rather than something to be replicated for wide commercial use. Still, the voyage dovetails with some rethinking in the shipping industry about hull and engine designs that improve fuel efficiency. And some operators are moving toward having their ships travel more slowly so that they guzzle less fuel. 
   
   Once the arrival festivities are over, Mr. Domjan plans to take some time off at home in Switzerland. 
   
   But then it’s back to work. The plan is to have a book and a film documentary ready by Sept. 27, two years to the day after the PlanetSolar set off from Monaco on its world trip. 
   
   Note: the arrival ceremonies, which will include a light show powered by the energy stored in the craft’s batteries, will be viewable at the PlanetSolar Web site, which also has a wealth of detail about the ship and its journey.
target: – A cool, spaceship-like catamaran dropped anchor in Monaco yesterday after completing the first-ever round-the-world trip by a solar-powered vessel, the LA Times reports. The MS Turanor PlanetSolar left Monaco in September of 2010 with the goal of showing "that we have the technologies as well as the knowledge to become sustainable and safeguard our blue planet," said Raphael Domjan, a Swiss engineer who dreamed up the project. Now, he might just rent it out as the world's biggest solar-powered battery. Other uses are being discussed: "We are considering renting out the boat for scientific or commercial uses or even selling it," says Immo Stroeher, Domjan's partner on the project. "We are open for ideas and in talks with interested parties," who might use the vessel "as a 'green' luxury yacht." No plans are brewing to mass-produce the PlanetSolar—it cost $12.5 million—but the project jibes with current thinking in the shipping industry, which is looking for ways to cut back on high fuel costs, notes the New York Times.