25 November 2008 | Synfo.com
A new and innovative take on finding eco-friendly power solutions has emerged from Solar Sailor, in essence harnessing solar and wind energy in combination to provide a yacht's principal power supply. As green issues and eco-friendly technology become increasingly important and the role of the marine in carbon emissions is becoming more widely appreciated, these types of innovative technological solutions are becoming more viable and seriously considered by the marine industry.
The Solar Sailor concept comes from Dr Robert Dane, a keen sailor and rower, after he watched a solar-powered boat race and noting that the winning boats used solar panels that inclined towards the sun. The obvious problem with this arrangement is that overly strong wind can make the panels dangerous. This led to the realisation that this energy could be more efficiently and safely harnessed using wing sail that is also a solar collector. Dane states that he considers a positive feedback loop of ‘motor sailing’ ie sailing plus motor power from solar energy to be key asset in this technology. By combining Solar Sail technology with conventional engines, Dane claims that this allows ships to run on wind, sun, batteries or fuel, or any combination of these, as shown by a vessel currently in use in Sydney harbour.
Solar Sailor believe that by using solar and wind energy power, the fuel costs for yachts can be significantly lowered. They claim that it can be applied to a wide variety of marine vessels. They report that they currently have orders from ferry operators in Hong Kong and Shanghai, while the COSCO Shipping Group has taken the lead in researching energy savings and emission reductions by launching a research program exploring the use of Solarsailor's technology on their fleets. There has also been interest from a US company developing unmanned ocean vehicles, which would be designed to work as coastguard crewless drones, at sea for up to two years at at a time. Solar Sailor also contend that there is the real possibility of introducing this technology into the luxury yacht market, as green technology becomes increasingly commonplace.
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