The company’s SoelCat 12, a solar-electric catamaran devised in collaboration with Netherlands-based firm Naval DC, is set to debut later this year with a price tag of around $560,000.
“The [boat] offers a 100 percent sustainable alternative to conventionally powered boats used in the industry so far,” Joep Koster, designer and naval architect at Soel Yachts, said in a statement. The 39-foot-long craft, which has room for up to 24 people, can cruise at speeds from seven to 17 m.p.h (six to 15 knots).
“At six knots, the vessel operates entirely off the energy provided by the solar panels during the sunshine hours,” Naval DC founder David Czap says. At the higher speeds, it gets an additional boost from a pair of 60-kilowatt-hour lithium batteries.