The Solar Boat Company
the leading installer of electric motors in canal boats:

Muse
2003. Our first Solar powered narrowboat

Scales
Full size Woolwich butty. 21st century cargo carrying and eco-home.

Naiad
BCN 18m long narrowboat. with a 30 horse motor & solar powered laundry.

Unity
20m x 3.6m replica K&A Barge built by RLL, Bristol.

Apsara
18m narrowboat. Liverpool Boats make efficient and light hulls.

Ross Barlow
Birmingham University's Hydrogen powered electric narrowboat.

Tomo
12m narrowboat. Dirty old diesel engine replaced by our Solar Boat kit.

Solaris
18m x 4m steel river cruiser built by RLL Boats with novel twin hull.

Rooster
70' BCN renovated butty with 15hp motor neatly built into the rudder.

Rick's butty
60' new narrowboat with accommodation in trad-butty style.
Solar Boat parts supplied as a kit.

Maid of Rutland
30' electric trip boat. Eleven boats switched on by The Solar Boat Co.

More projects underway

Solar Power
21st century boating

Low maintenance
Typical maintenance schedule is easier than a diesel engine: Wipe clean solar panels weekly, top up batteries quarterly, change motor brushes every few years, new batteries every 3000 discharges or 7-10 years. And you need never fill up with fuel!

More affordable than ever
Today solar powered electric propulsion is a practical, economic alternative to diesel engines. High performance solar panels, batteries, chargers, motors and motor controllers are more affordable than ever. Diesel prices are rising and has many hidden costs – such as global conflict and environmental damage.

Quiet cruising & no pollution
Rivers and canals are increasingly valued as relatively unspoilt natural habitats, solar-electric boats produce no emissions, are quiet and travel efficiently, with little water disturbance or wash.

Electric boating gets you get closer to the wildlife. There's no need to shout over the engine noise and you can here someone falling in. Its a great way to enjoy the inland waterways and a solar boat is an affordable zero-emission home.

25% discount on licenses

Both British waterways and the Environment Agency give a 25% discount on boat licenses for electric boats to encourage environmentally friendly boating. More charging points are being installed which helps extend the cruising range in cloudy weather. On the Thames there are charging points every 15 miles.

High power mains electric for accommodation

A solar boat batteries will provide excellent mains power and a 12 Volt electric supply. A water pump, radio and a few lights will hardly effect your cruising range. While you are not long-distance cruising you have power for a washing machine, microwave, power-tools etc. A new solar narrowboat could be fitted out using power tools powered from the boats solar-electric system.

It's no wander that
Solar-Electric Boating is gaining in popularity.