Solar Energy-Powered Boats: State of the Art and Perspectives

Abstract

This paper presents an examination of the primary applications of solar energy as the main power source in the maritime sector, focusing on recent developments. A comprehensive review of the existing literature, including journal articles, proceedings, and patents, is conducted to identify three prominent areas for advancing solar energy-powered boats: maritime drones, sporting boats, and short-range touristic vessels. Maritime drones primarily serve as small autonomous boats for research, conservation, or military operations. On the other hand, sporting boats include nautical and energy design competitions involving students and enthusiasts. In terms of commercial interest, there is a growing demand for environmentally friendly and low-noise boats suitable for tourist activities, particularly in protected areas. Furthermore, specific and illustrative cases are explored in a dedicated section. Lastly, potential future perspectives are discussed and elucidated.

Sustainable Vehicles for Decarbonizing the Transport Sector: A Comparison of Biofuel, Electric, Fuel Cell and Solar-Powered Vehicles

“…A few more articles reviewed the current progress on fuel cell vehicles [12], comparisons of optimal sizing and power management for hybrid fuel cell vehicles (fuel cell/battery/supercapacitors) [13], and proton exchange membrane-based fuel cell application for road transport [14]. The reviews on recent trends in incorporating photovoltaics into boats [15], passenger vehicles [16] and effective factors on the performance of vehicle integrated photovoltaics to run on solar energy are published in the literature [17]. So, there are many articles in the literature that review single-technology vehicles, i.e., either on biofuel-based vehicles or electric vehicles or fuel cell vehicles or solar vehicles.…”

Analysis of Influencing Factors of the Energy Transition Process in Sustainable Nautical Tourism: Case Study—The Netherlands

“…The authors propose a composite vector indicator, called the Differential Dynamic Index (DDI), which is defined by two components: a dynamic one, to grade the evolution of the destination in terms of its sustainability; and the other a static one, to relativize its position compared to other territories, evaluating the status achieved in the social, economic, and environmental parameters that affect the degree of sustainability. Minak [24] identifies three prominent areas for the advancement of solar-powered boats: maritime drones, sport boats, and short-range cruise ships. Maritime drones are small autonomous boats used for research, conservation, or military operations.…”

Marine Renewable Energy and the Transition to a Low-Carbon Future

“…From this perspective, the goal of this Special Issue is to contribute to the renewable energy agenda by presenting high-quality scientific and multi-disciplinary works, aiming to improve knowledge and performance in extracting offshore renewable energy. This Special Issue entitled 'Marine Renewable Energy and the Transition to a Low-Carbon Future' includes nine contributions [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] published during 2022-2023.…”

“…A different vision related to the same sector of solar is presented in [5]. This work discusses recent applications of solar energy as the main power source in the maritime sector.…”