Solar panels are getting hot…and increasingly being used to power unexpected things.

This hotel boat, named ‘Kevin,’ runs on solar power. It is owned by Dominique Renouf (background, manning the barge) who navigates it regularly through the Lot river near Castelmoron-sur-Lot, southwestern France.

With Shandong Vicot Air Conditioning recently announcing deployment of its first solar-powered HVAC system, solar power is gaining global popularity as a relatively cheap renewable that is potentially accessible to the common man, even if he lives on a boat.

Check out A Motorcycle Powered By The Sun, to see another unexpected solar-powered item.