Aditya: India's First Solar Ferry | 09 Jun 2020

Recently, India’s first solar-powered ferry, Aditya has been shortlisted for the Gustave Trouvé Award as the only entrant from Asia.

Aditya, is among 12 such ferries that have been shortlisted for the award across the world.

Gustave Trouvé Awards

Gussies Electric Boat Awards were instituted in memory of Gustave Trouvé, a French electrical engineer and pioneer in electric cars and boats.
Trouvé was a prolific inventor with over 75 patents. He had also developed a 5-m-long prototype electric boat in 1881.

Description:
- Aditya is operating between Vaikkom and Thavanakkadavu in Kerala. It was launched in November 2016 and started its services in 2017.
- It is India's first solar-powered ferry and the largest solar-powered boat.
  - It is operated by the Kerala State Water Transport Department (KSWTD) and built by Navalt Solar and Electric Boats, Kochi.
- It is powered by a motor that can source energy from solar panels, batteries, and generators.
  - Solar vessels do not create air and noise pollution.
Significance:
- Aditya has a very low per km energy cost and it operates 22 trips a day, covering a total of 66 km, carrying 75 passengers per trip.
- It needs just Rs. 180 per day in energy cost, compared to about Rs. 8,000 for a diesel-run ferry of similar size, which is unusual for a high technology product to have such a low energy cost.
- It has a high financial viability with zero pollution vessels.