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.
But it will need to be something that more production will bring the price down for.
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.
Wired News: Brits Float Solar Boat:
Filed in: solar, energy, generation, boat, CO2
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