Powered by the sky: best solar-powered boats in Europe

Picture a boat that never needs a plug. It cruises all day at a gentle pace, anchors in the afternoon sun, and wakes up with more charge than it went to sleep with.

That is the dream of a solar-powered boat. On a big, slow catamaran, it is close to reality. On a small day boat, solar is a welcome top-up rather than the whole story.

We compared the solar-electric boats sold in Europe, from small Finnish day boats to Polish superyachts. These are published figures, not our own tests.

The line-up: solar boats compared

Sources: Elvene, float, Boat Industry, Yachting Pages, Nautica Report, NauticExpo, yacht.de.

Solar day boats: the small, sunny quiver

Elvene from Jakobstad in Finland builds 6.5 m solar-electric day boats with panels built into the boat. The Amber seats seven plus a two-person cuddy, reaches 30 knots and runs over 100 nautical miles at slower speeds. Elvene describes the solar range as infinite at slower speeds (Elvene).

Lasai from Spain builds solar-electric boats for long, quiet days. Its 32 KS has two 50 kW motors, 18 knots top speed and 80 nautical miles at 10 knots (float).

Solar power cats: the coastal set

Millikan Boats from France builds the M.10, a 10 m solar-electric power catamaran with 6 kWp of solar, a 41 kWh battery and two 20 kW motors (Boat Industry). It is the production version of a prototype built in Caen.

Pioneer Yachts, a young yard in Stralsund, Germany, launched its first 18 m PY60 solar-electric catamaran two years after the company was set up (Yachting Pages).

Solar yachts: the big wave crew

Silent Yachts, now part of Silent Group, has worked on solar yachts since 2004 under founder Michael Köhler and builds in Italy, Turkey and Thailand (Yachting Pages). The Silent 60 carries 17 kWp of solar and up to 286 kWh of batteries, cruises at 6 to 8 knots, and Silent says it can cover up to 100 nautical miles a day on solar alone. An optional kite wing adds wind power (Nautica Report).

Soel Yachts from the Netherlands has built solar-electric boats since 2007, with the Senses 62 and 82 yachts and the SoelCat 12 (Soel Yachts).

Sunreef Yachts from Gdańsk adds solar panels built into hulls and superstructure on its Eco line. The Sunreef 80 Eco is a sailing catamaran with 34 kWp of solar and a 475 kWh battery (NauticExpo). The Sunreef 100 Eco power catamaran carries up to 45.1 kWp and a 770 kWh battery (yacht.de).

What solar can really do: read the forecast

The pattern is simple. The bigger the deck compared with the battery and the slower you go, the more of the work solar can do.

On a 6.5 m day boat, around 1 kWp of panels is a top-up that adds range on sunny days and keeps the battery charged on a mooring. On a large catamaran with 17 kWp or more, solar can carry much of the load at slow cruising speeds. Read solar charging on a boat for the numbers behind kWp and kWh.

Our verdict: slow and sunny wins

So, which solar boat is right for you? For lake and coastal day trips, an Elvene or Lasai brings solar to a size most people can own. For coastal cruising, the Millikan M.10. For long, slow passages, the solar catamarans from Silent, Soel and Sunreef come closest to never needing a plug.

Judge every solar claim by the speed it assumes. Browse every brand in solar-powered boats.