Shikara Boat

The eco friendly 23 ft x 6 ft, 4+1 seater Shikara boat has positive buoyancy incorporated in the hull and stabilizers. It's powered by a high efficiency solar driven electric 12v outboard with smaller solar panels for lights and music system.
It's suitable for small or big lakes, amusement theme-park boating and for lagoons, marinas and calm waters.

$5800 from Dolphin Recreation, Udaipur

The Electric Blue

The Electric Blue SolarYacht team is currently building a solar powered yacht in an effort to break all existing solar boat speed over distance records in the US, as well as set over 100 new speed records. This boat will be the second largest Solar Powered boat in the world, and the largest in the US.

The goal is to show that Solar Power is a viable power solution for boats and the marine industry as a whole. As the boat travels the over 6,000 miles around the Great Circle Loop, it will stop in over 50 different major cities, and provide tours to Schools, Universities and and industry leaders.

Mountain Lake Explorer

This boat was designed and built from scratch to undergo extended summer explorations of remote mountain lakes in the Canadian Rockies. Most of these lakes are sparsely populated so the boat must carry sufficient supplies for about 2 weeks.

Since the very beginning solar power was the paramount issue, providing charging energy for 225Ah battery bank. The battery is powering 2 Torqeedo Cruise 2.0R electric motors, drawing an average 1kW at 6-7 km/hr.

A suitable sun-harvesting system of PV modules was installed on the cabin roof and - recently - on the canvas canopy above the back deck. The array can deliver 600W on a sunny day, which nicely decreases battery drainage to approx.25A. In this scenario the boat can make a slow but steady 50km long trip, leaving enough energy for overnight mooring. In most situations the battery is fully charged next morning, ready for another electric drive. Well, unless it is a rainy day...

The award winning Roiro Whisper 55 features innovative keel design and a silent running solar powered motor offering ecological benefits. See the company website at roiro.se for more details.

The Loon is a solar powered vessel produced by the Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company.

It travels down the historic Rideau Canal which spans from Kingston to Ottawa, Ontario. Loons are traveling birds and what better trip to take than along a 150-mile, 174-year-old waterway chock full of scenic places to explore?

Approximately half of the energy required for this journey was provided by the sun and half was provided from the shore power available from lock stations and marinas.

The Loon used for this journey was a fully-equipped version, complete with a modern galley (with sink, microwave oven, fridge and barbeque), full weather protection for overnighting and sleeping accommodations.

Ron Aragon, of Merced, California is looking for help designing a dream boat:

I would truly like to work with somebody in designing a boat incorporating the designs from the Suncat 23 (the overhead panel system), the Alpha (sleek, fast hull design), and a Boston Whaler runabout (hull design--stability on the water as well as maneuverability) mixed with a houseboat/yacht combination of design ideas.

I have had a fascination with boat design all of my life and would like to create something functional as well as innovative for living and traveling on water.   I would like to incorporate the various solar boat designs into boats of all sizes to include pleasure boats for small lakes, large lakes, bays and rivers, as well as global passage yachts and various live aboard vessels.

If you are interested and feel you can help you can write to Ron c/o admin@sunboat.com

Main building material: GRP 3-Schalenbauweise

The boat is built from polyester GRP. The boat uses the 3 bowls building method with floating unsinkbar.

Length: 5.50 m

Width: 1.84 m

Depth: 0.4 m

Weight: approx. 480 kg

Engine: 800 Watts underwater engine with either 2-step circuit or electronic regulation.

Batteries: 24 V 180 ah (C20) lead acid

Battery charge: For each sun day in the spring and autumn 30 ah (24 V)
in the summer 40 - 50 ah (24)
with covered sky approx. 20 ah (24 V)

Speed: at full power: 5 knots
at half power:4 knots

Range/travel time: During optimal sun exposure the boat can be driven at 5 knots with full power up to 6 hours. At 4 knots, 10 hours is possible.
At night the boat can be driven for 4 hours at 5 knots or 6 hours at 4 knots.
In sunshine at 2-2.5 knots the boat can be driven for an unlimited period.

Load-carrying capacity 4 people