Raphaël Domjan (born 19 January 1972) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

explorer and lecturer. He initiated and completed the first

round-the-world Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

trip using

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an ...

between September 2010 and May 2012 aboard the MS catamaran PlanetSolar. In 2015, he carried out the first polar solar navigation in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. He is the founder and pilot of the SolarStratos project, the first

solar plane An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, ...

in the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...

. In August 2020, he made the first jump off of an electric plane and the first solar

free fall In Newtonian physics, free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. In the context of general relativity, where gravitation is reduced to a space-time curvature, a body in free fall has no force acting on i ...

. Raphaël Domjan is a pilot,

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

, diver and

parachutist Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

. He is a member of the Explorer Club of New York as well as the

Société des Explorateurs Français Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

Biography

Raphaël Domjan was born on 19 January 1972 in

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, , ; german: Neuenburg) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, situated on the shoreline of Lake Neuchâtel. Since the fusion in 2021 of the municipalities of Neuchâtel, Corcelles-Cormondrèche, Peseux, and Valangin, ...

, Switzerland and raised in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , , , ) ; it, Losanna; rm, Losanna. is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French speaking canton of Vaud. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and fac ...

. In 2001, he co-founded the company Horus Networks Sàrl, the world's first solar

web server A web server is computer software and underlying hardware that accepts requests via HTTP (the network protocol created to distribute web content) or its secure variant HTTPS. A user agent, commonly a web browser or web crawler, initi ...

. In 2005, Domjan launched his first

solar-powered Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...

round-the-world project. He founded PlanetSolar SA then, in 2007, the PlanetSolar Foundation. The PlanetSolar catamaran was built in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

between 2008 and 2010, financed by the German entrepreneur Immo Stroeher. In 2007, he travelled between

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

and Dominica in the expedition of the

Sun 21 The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

, the first solar boat to cross the Atlantic using solar energy. On this occasion he probably made the first dive from a solar boat in history. He also participated in the crossing of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

north/south with

Louis Palmer Louis Palmer (born 1971 in Budapest) is a Swiss keynote speaker, global environmental adventurer, and "Solar Pioneer". Life Louis Palmer was raised in Luzern, Switzerland. Since he was a little child, his dream was to show the benefit of renew ...

aboard the SolarTaxi, a solar and

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

. Between 2010 and 2012, he made the first solar-powered round-the-world trip aboard PlanetSolar as the leader of the expedition. In 2012, Domjan became a speaker and member of the Global Speaker Association. Since then he has given lectures regarding his world tour and explaining the reasons which pushed him to go on it. In 2014, he brought together an international team and launched the SolarStratos mission, the objective of which was to reach the stratosphere with a solar plane. He plans to perform this record flight in 2023. In 2015, along with the sailor

Anne Quemere Anne Quemere (born May 19, 1966) is a French sailor and sportswoman. Biography From an early age, she found herself close to the sea on which she sails, as a family living in the Glénan archipelago, on the islands of Groix, Belle-Île, Houat o ...

, he attempted to make the first crossing of the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

in a solar powered

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each ...

. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were unfavorable and they had to turn back after 300 km. The expedition nevertheless constitutes the first solar polar navigation in history. On 25 August 2020, he jumped out of the SolarStratos HB-SXA solar plane in

Payerne Payerne (; frp, Payèrna) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the district of Payerne, and is now part of the district of Broye-Vully. The German name ''Peterlingen'' for the town is out of use. History The earli ...

, Switzerland, with test pilot Miguel Iturmendi in command of the plane, the first jump off of an electric plane and the first free fall in solar history. He dropped several hundred meters and reached a speed of 150kmh. In 2021, he became the first pilot of an electric plane flight with a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state (polity), state#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international p ...

. On 14 September 2021 they took off with a Pipistrel Velis128 operated by Elektropostal from

Nice airport Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

with H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco and they flew over the Principality of

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

. The plane flew for 30 minutes at a maximum altitude of 900 feet. On June 18, 2022, Raphaël Domjan took off with HB-SXA solar plane from Sion airport in Switzerland with the adventurer Géraldine Fasnacht on board. She jumps from SolarStratos at more than 9,000 feet above the Swiss Alps and achieves the first wingsuit flight from an electric and solar plane. She lands in the village of Verbier in Switzerland at more than 1,000 meters above sea level.

PlanetSolar

First world tour using solar energy

The MS

Tûranor PlanetSolar MS ''Tûranor PlanetSolar'', known under the project name ''PlanetSolar'', founded by the Swiss explorer Raphaël Domjan, is the largest solar-powered boat in the world and launched on 31 March 2010. It was designed and engineered by LOMOcean M ...

is the largest solar boat built to date and the first to have sailed around the world powered by solar energy. Having left

on 27 September 2010, the PlanetSolar and her crew followed a route close to the Equator. After passing through the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

, Suez Canal and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

, the boat reached Monaco on 4 May 2012. after 585 days and 60,006 km traveled.

PlanetSolar crew members during the first solar world tour (2010-2012)

Raphaël Domjan was the expedition leader of PlanetSolar during his round the world trip between 2010 and 2012. Patrick Marchesseau was the captain of PlanetSolar from Monaco to

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, an ...

, and Erwann le Rouzic took over from Nouméa until the return to the starting point, Monaco. They were accompanied by Jens Langwasser, a boatman, and Christian Oschenbein, an electrical engineer.

Firsts and records

During its round-the-world trip, PlanetSolar achieved a number of firsts: the first solar-powered round-the-world trip, first trip around the world by solar boat, and first crossing of the

and

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

with solar energy. In terms of records, PlanetSolar is also the largest solar boat in the world, and is the solar vehicle that traveled the longest distance (60,023 km).

Stamps

After the first round the world trip by solar boat,

La Poste Monaco La Poste Monaco is the company responsible for postal service in Monaco. It is a branch of Groupe La Poste (France). History Postal services in Monaco are provided by France, as assured by the Treaty of Péronne in 1641. This relationship has b ...

issued a postage stamp on the adventure PlanetSolar with a value of 77 centimes

Euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . Th ...

representing PlanetSolar in Monaco.

SolarStratos

SolarStratos is a project officially begun in March 2014 by Raphaël Domjan. It is a two-seater solar plane built by Calin Gologan. Raphaël Domjan plans with his team to achieve an absolute altitude record. The SolarStratos mission should allow Raphaël Domjan to reach the stratosphere at more than 18,000 meters, an altitude never reached with a conventional propulsion aircraft. According to SolarStratos, this project would aim to demonstrate that renewable energy makes it possible to go beyond what is possible with conventional propulsion methods. The SolarStratos aircraft was unveiled to the public on 7 December 2016. Ultimately, and after the record flight planned from 2024, Raphaël Domjan and the SolarStratos team wish to commercialize the technologies developed during the stratospheric mission, in particular by developing stratospheric solar drones.

Publications

* Jaunin Roger, Domjan Raphaël (2010) - « PlanetSolar », Lausanne: Favre, 144 pp. * Jaunin Roger, Domjan Raphaël (2012) - « PlanetSolar, Premier tour du monde à l’énergie solaire », Lausanne : Favre, 170 pp. *Javet Raphaëlle, Domjan Raphaël (2018) - « Pionniers et aventuriers de l'énergie solaire », Lausanne : Favre, 136 pp.

Links

* Website o
Raphaël Domjan
* Website o
SolarStratos
* Website of the foundatio
PlanetSolar

Filmography

* ''À la poursuite du soleil'' (2012) - documentary (52 minutes) directed by Olivier Vittel, produced by the PlanetSolar Foundation. * SolarStratos « la naissance d’un rêve » (2021) – documentary (52 minutes) directed by Stéphane Chopard and Eric Beaufils and produced by Gédéon

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Domjan, Raphaël 1972 births Swiss explorers Living people Swiss aviation record holders People from Neuchâtel People from Lausanne Circumnavigators of the globe Swiss skydivers Swiss male divers 21st-century Swiss inventors People associated with solar power