Important Facts For Prelims
Aditya: India's First Solar Ferry
- 09 Jun 2020
- 2 min read
Why in News
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.
Key Points
- 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.
