The environmental impact of today’s fossil-fuel powered marine industry is significant due to the CO₂ produced, poor emission controls on small marine engines, and the use of bunker fuel in large vessels, the dirtiest oil on earth. Small fuel spills, leaks and fumes are inevitable at marine locations and on the open water. Electric boating removes the fuel source and the emission source from the vessel. Solar marine vessels take this a step farther by generating some, most or all the energy used by the vessel right on board with the potential to eliminate all emissions from operation.

How Solar Marine Vessels Work In a solar boat, solar PV panels can provide some or all the energy used by the vessel. Together with battery storage, solar energy generated is stored for use later, during rainy weather or at night. In a solar vessel, there is a premium on efficiency, since there is limited area where solar PV modules can be placed on the vessel. Accessories on the boat are also powered by the solar PV array and battery system. Applications that need more energy per day than the solar array can provide can augment daily charging with overnight or opportunity charging from dockside power and/or PV arrays mounted off the vessel.

The Future of Commercial and Passenger Vessels Imagine a boating experience with no noise, vibration or odors from internal combustion engines? That boating experience is now. Enjoy the serenity of your surroundings whether at rest, cruising slowly at 4-6 knots or motoring along at 14-15 knots. For many uses, the vessels are totally self-fueled, making your experience both easier and more pleasurable. Time and money will not be spent waiting at marina fueling stations. When at rest, these vessels can self-power any accessories or electronics on board that need to remain operational. This is useful at moorings or docks where there is no shore power available. For longer runtimes and for some commercial operations, shore power can be used to fully charge a vessel overnight.

The Worden Marine Difference The key focus of our vessel design is powering everything with solar and achieving a true net-zero energy. TruSolar™ is our system architecture which maximizes solar and minimizes battery. This is due to a deep design priority on vessel efficiency and attention to detail on the efficiency of all systems on board. All the energy comes from the sun. Batteries are only used for overcast, nighttime and emergency operation. Unlike some boats that include solar but are not efficient and include a large battery pack to provide most energy required, our vessels are designed efficiently enough to accomplish any boating activity needed using solar that is generated on board and in some cases augmented by dockside solar and net-zero energy.