VISITORS to Scotland's first national park soon will be able to take solar-powered boat tours round Loch Lomond.
The Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority (LLTNPA) has commissioned German boatbuilders to start work on the vessel, and it is hoped it could be operating on the loch as soon as July.
The German firm, Kopf, is considering delivering the boat, which travels at about 10mph, by sailing it across the North Sea to the east coast of Scotland.
The solar-powered boat will be able to carry up to 12 passengers and will offer trips between Balloch and the nature reserve on Inchcailloch, an island on the east side of the loch.
Although the weather in the area can be notoriously lacking in sun, it should not present a problem for the 30ft vessel, which relies on ultraviolet light rather than sunlight.
The catamaran-style boat, which will be able to take passengers right up on to the shore, is also expected to be very cheap to run, with a similar vessel used in the Norfolk Broads costing just pounds-10 a year.
The introduction of the boat is part of a pilot project aimed at encouraging eco-friendly tourism in the park area.
It costs pounds-160,000, 50-per cent of which has come from Europe.
The park contributed pounds-18,600, with the rest of the money coming from Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Natural Heritage.
John Jones, LLTNPA specialist services and implementation manager, said there was no reason why solar boats could not be introduced to other lochs in the national park if the Loch Lomond trial proved successful.
"Testing the benefits and performance of a passenger vessel run solely on renewable energy will be a first for Scotland but hopefully may, in the future, be the norm rather than the exception, " he added.
Park officials decided to buy a catamaran for Loch Lomond after visits to Lake Constance, on the German-Swiss border, and the Norfolk Broads, where solarpowered boats have been providing tours for more than a year.
The boat is powered by a simple electric motor run off batteries charged by the solar panels. The panels harness energy gained from photovoltaic cells, thought to be one of the most eco-friendly sources of power available.
Joachim Kopf, who owns the firm which is building the boat, said it should be ready within about three weeks. He added:
"The boat for Loch Lomond is a completely unique design.
We are thinking of sailing it over to Scotland. If there is enough time to do that, I think it would be a great thing to do."
The park authority is also hoping to introduce virtual guides in July - palm pilots or Ipaqs - that will provide audiovisual information about the boat trip and Inchcailloch.
Although audio tours are often used at cathedrals and other indoor tourist attractions such as the Old Town Jail in Stirling, this is thought to be the first time fully audiovisual Ipaqs, which have been fitted with waterproof cases, will have been used outdoors.
Linda Fraser, a national park project manager, said: "This is just a pilot project to test whether people like using these, and to see whether they stand up to the weather.
"It is an alternative to having noticeboards and signs everywhere, which can intrude on the natural landscape."
Both the palm pilots and the solar-powered boat are part of a wider project to use technology and green transportation to promote sustainable tourism in eight national parks across northern Europe.
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