James Worden, a longtime electric vehicle pioneer, has turned his attention to the water with Worden Marine, a Massachusetts startup building solar-powered boats from the ground up. The first prototype, the TruSolar20, uses six 425-watt solar panels on its canopy to power a 20-foot vessel at about five miles per hour on cloudy days, reaching eight miles per hour in full sun. With battery power, it can hit nearly 14 miles per hour and run all night on a full charge.
The company's second model, the TruSolar40, is twice as long and topped with 12 panels. It is enclosed, more streamlined, and weighs just 9,000 pounds thanks to carbon fiber and Kevlar construction. Buyers can configure it for ferry routes, river tours, or other small commercial uses, with seating for up to 16 passengers and room for amenities like a bar or a small grill.
Worden Marine has not yet made a sale but is in talks with potential customers. To keep costs down, the boats use commercially available solar panels at about 20 cents per watt. Worden also engaged with the U.S. Coast Guard early in the design process, aiming to meet commercial certification requirements that have kept solar-powered passenger vessels rare since the first approved one launched in 2018. His priority, he says, is a zero-emissions boat designed from scratch, not a retrofit—and a sustainable business to get it on the water.