The world’s largest sustainability tour is coming to Stellenbosch. The SolarButterfly is a solar powered and 30-feet-long tiny house in the shape of an enormous butterfly which charges the electric vehicle (Tesla) that tows it. Its goal is to visit and publish 1,000 climate pioneers and their solutions, and also to visit schools and raise awareness for climate change. The Butterfly symbolises the society’s transition away from fossil fuels towards clean technologies.
An Incredible Journey Across Continents
Since the start of the tour on May 23, 2022 in Geneva at the United Nations, the Solarbutterfly has travelled more than 75’000 km and visited 42 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. The SolarButterfly travelled across Europe in 2022, across North America from Halifax to Panama in 2023, and is now set to start its 4000 km journey across South Africa on 9th of February, starting in Cape Town and finishing in Durban.
How the SolarButterfly Works
The SolarButterfly’s equipment includes its unique large solar panels which unfold into giant ‘butterfly wings’. With more than 80 m2 of solar panels it can produce enough energy to travel up to 200 km per day. During the day, the vehicle can charge its battery during the day and is open to the public. It has a kitchen, a complete bathroom as well as a living room and it accommodates a crew of up to five people. The SolarButterfly is the world’s first vehicle largely built from Ocean PET, plastic bottles gathered at Sea and processed.
Initiated by Swiss solar pioneer Louis Palmer who 16 years ago became the first person to circle the world in a solar-powered car. “While global warming is the biggest threat for the future of humanity, all solutions already exist. We want to show that lots of fantastic clean solutions are available that create jobs and save money! A transition of our society, like a butterfly, is very well possible!”
Showcasing Climate Innovations Worldwide
On the world tour the SolarButterfly has so far visited nearly 200 projects that demonstrate that global warming can be stopped. For example it visited the pioneers in Berlin working on a search engine that helps to reforest our planet, or a solar powered vehicle in Rotterdam that no longer needs the grid to charge its batteries, and an company that can harvest energy from small rivers with a so called “Energyfish”.
According to the planned route, the SolarButterfly will visit five continents finishing in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025, at the UN World Climate Change Conference, just in time for the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Paris climate agreement.
Maxon, a leading Swiss company for precision drives, is the main sponsor of the Solarbutterfly World Tour.
A wide range of other companies has also helped to fund the building of the SolarButterfly, including Brugg Group, myclimate, 3A Composites Core Materials, Geser Fahrzeugbau, Komax, Kyburz, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, OPES Solutions, Schindler, 3A Composites Mobility, Lucerne Business Development and Jim&Jim. The cost of the four-year journey and project will be raised via crowdfunding, the selling of digital solar cells, and sponsors and partners who share the same mission to stop global warming.
