Serpentine Solar Boat To Set Sail
by Justin Thomas, Virginia 
on 07.18.06
It is slow and travels only a short distance, but builders of the Serpentine Solar Shuttle say it's the most advanced passenger ferry on British waters. Britain's biggest solar-powered boat debuted Tuesday on a lake in London's Hyde Park, opening what its developers hope is a door to the future of solar-powered transportation. The Serpentine Solar Shuttle - powered entirely by the sun - cruises at 5 mph and carries 42 passengers. "This is the most technologically advanced shuttle in the world right now," said designer Christoph Behling, who also designed the world's largest solar boat in Hamburg, Germany.
"It is made of entirely stainless steel which means it never gets old. It will pave the way for future boats and trains and other means of transportation," Behling said. The 48-foot-long shuttle has 27 solar panels on its roof, and the energy generated by the sun is enough to keep the boat running. Its maximum journey distance is 82 miles.
Almost no pollutants are given off during the trip because the shuttle has two silent engines - meaning there are no carbon emissions and it is also charged fully by the sun. Even on those dark, rainy days everyone associates with London, Behling said there will be enough sun to keep the ship running. It is expected the boat will save nearly 5,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide per year, compared with a diesel boat of a similar size, according to Gavin Gomes, a spokesman for Sputnik Communications, a London-based energy company. When the ferry is idle, surplus electricity generated by the solar panels will be fed back into the national transmission network. The Serpentine Solar Shuttle cost $421,000 to build - 20 percent more than a diesel boat of a comparable size, Behling said.
He is now working on a 300-passenger solar-powered ferry to run on the Thames, and hopes it could be ready in 2008. A 60-passenger solar-powered train for London's Battersea Park is also in the works.
Check out other solar boats here and here.
Via: Chron.Com
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Hmm... I was on a very similar boat in Hamburg, Germany back in 2002. It was pretty cool, but just used for tourists to float around.
Wow, it even works on an overcast day! That's great! I wonder how long it would take to justify the extra 20% cost over a diesel-fueled boat. That doesn't sound all that high.
Well, all this boat is going to be is to take people across the lake in Hyde Park in about the same amount of time that it takes to walk! Not exactly necessary travel ... but I guess you have to prove the principles somewhere and leisure boats are one of the best places to do that.
Well congratulations - join the club! In the Lake District we have been operating hybrid solar electric boats for two years, and these are conversions of beautiful 1920's launches - a real challenge to achieve rather than new-build.
Nothing has been said about the necessity for this boat to recharge overnight from the mains. It is quite clear to us that this is part of the specification, so why no mention of it? Could it be that there is some embarrasment about being classed as HYBRID solar-electric?
The boat actually does not need to recharge overnight from the mains. It can run solely on solar power all day...the boat has the capacity to charge from the mains, but does not need to. Our boat in Hamburg even generates more energy than it needs to power the 120 passenger boat, feeding the excess back to the National Grid!