Development and performance evaluation of a solar-powered water surface cleaning boat with overloading indicator

To mitigate the growing threat of water pollution, water surface cleaning boats have been developed to collect floating solid waste. However, existing solar-powered systems often lack overload monitoring capabilities, which may lead to instability and operational risks. This study presents the development and performance evaluation of a photovoltaic-powered water surface cleaning boat equipped with an overloading indicator to enhance operational safety. The system was modeled using Creo Parametric 6.0 and analyzed in ANSYS to evaluate hydrodynamic drag and structural performance. Experimental validation was conducted to assess the boat’s operational characteristics under different loading conditions. The results indicate that the system achieves up to 88.4% of the rated solar panel output under field-testing conditions, demonstrating effective energy utilization. The structural analysis yielded a factor of safety of 1.03, which is acceptable for prototype-level validation but requires further improvement for full-scale deployment. The proposed system integrates waste collection, solar energy utilization, and overload protection into a single platform. The findings confirm the feasibility of the developed prototype and highlight its potential for sustainable water surface cleaning applications, while also identifying areas for future structural enhancement.