Even as land-based solar power plants have been mooted for the upcoming Water Metro project in the Greater Kochi area, a section of naval architects say that sourcing solar power from panels installed atop the 23 ferries that will be introduced in the project’s first phase will be technically and financially more viable.
The solar panels should ideally be installed atop boats, in order to reduce the battery size and subsequently the size of the vessel. This is important since boats are not connected to the grid when moving, unlike electric trains which source power from the grid even as they are on the move, says Sandith Thandasherry, founder of the firm that designed Aditya, India’s first solar ferry that the State Water Transport Department (SWTD) operates in the Vaikom-Thavanakadavu route.
It is seen that capital expenditure (capex) is the lowest when solar panels are atop a…