Boating is not a very green way of getting around, some boat leave oil and fuel on the surface of the water, not mention the damage that is done to shoreline etc. but what if there was a way to use the river and coastline in eco friendly manner, would that be better?

Of course it would, and a company based in the South of France has the idea of using the sun to power their boats to great effect.

Technical Data for the 550 Solar boat with 800 W engine:

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