Since the end of the 80's, Raphael imagines and dreams to achieve a world tour while using a minimum of energy. He first imagines achieving it with the help of an amphibious microlight. In 2003, with the partners of the company Horus Networks, they are the first in the world to propose to their clients a Web hosting and solar-energy powered electronic mails. It is in 2004 that Raphael thinks about achieving the first tour of the world in a solar boat. At that time, it is not yet fashionable. He will thus have to first convince the future sponsors and the schools. To do this, he brings together and motivates a team of enthusiasts ready to follow him in this adventure. « At first, I was alone, I only had my dream to convince », explains Raphaël Domjan. In February 2008, the financing of the boat is secured, thanks to the support of the first main partner.
Today, more than 100 persons are working, across the world, for the PlanetSolar project.

After more than 13 months spent in the boatyard in the hands of Knierim Yachtbau’s boatbuilding team in Germany, today PlanetSolar revealed its futuristic design and its state-of-the-art technology for the first time. About two hundred people attended this event. They were finally able to realise the colossal size of the largest solar-powered boat in the world: 31 metres long, 15 metres wide, 7.5 metres high and 500m2 of photovoltaic solar panels!

The ceremony unfolded before the admiring and enthusiastic eyes of PlanetSolar's main protagonists. Raphaël Domjan, initiator of the project and skipper of the multi-hull boat, was especially filled with emotion: "This is a unique feeling to see in front of me today a boat that I so often dreamed of! I can't wait to hold the controls in my hand soon, D-day is coming." Immo Ströher, owner of the multi-hull boat, wanted above all to emphasise the technological significance of the event: "Each step in the PlanetSolar project is a step further in the technological development of renewable energy sources. Thanks to ambitious projects like thisscientific research is making progress."

The next milestone for the entire PlanetSolar team will be the at the official launch this month.