Raising solar sails

A blue-and-yellow ferry boat moored on a remote island in Hong Kong seems to be no different from other ships. When a passenger looks closely, he can see that the top of the boat is very special and laid out smoothly. Solar panels, while the boat is quiet, there is no harsh roar that usually erupts at the dock. This is a solar sailboat developed by the Australian Sun Mariners.

According to a recent report by BBC Online, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is using four solar sailboats to shuttle golfers to the island for golf lessons. Now they have become the world's first solar hybrid ferry fleet, and at the same time have formed a commercial testing ground for this solar sail technology that may change the future shipping.

The leader of this fleet, the Solar Albatross, is raising two sails with solar panels to the sea. The unique function of this sail is to use solar energy and wind energy at the same time, and to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels to a greater extent. Its principle is similar to hybrid cars. The electricity generated by the solar panels is stored in the battery and provides power for the ship to enter and leave the port. Once the ship has sailed out into the open sea and needs faster speeds, the interior of the ship will switch to the diesel system while the sail will take energy from the sea breeze.

Robert Danny, founder of Sun Mariner, said that this technology allows ship owners to save fuel significantly and has great potential to be applied to all types of boats, from simple ferry boats to luxury superyachts and large cargo ships carrying iron ore. And naval patrol ships and so on. It is absolutely possible that all ships will raise solar sails within the next 50 to 100 years. When we go out to the sea, we find that there is plenty of sunshine everywhere, and we can get more energy from the wind than solar energy.

In 2010, the company launched three yachts and the "Solar Albatross" started carrying passengers last year. Solar sail technology is also used on two ferries in Shanghai and Sydney.

Danny said that this hybrid technology can save 8% to 17% of the fuel, but the cost of repairs and maintenance exceeds expectations. In spite of this, he is full of confidence in the future operation.

Create solar sail "giant"

Danny hopes to reach an agreement with the river ferry demanders in Australia this year and install the technology on two offshore research vessels. Although there are other competitors for solar boats, the advantage of their company is that the developed technology has passed a certain scale of commercial testing.

Danny said ambitiously that the company will soon announce the cooperation with a mining company in Australia to install a 40-meter-high solar sail on a large cargo ship to provide power for transporting iron ore and other natural raw materials to China.

He compared the solar sail to the “giant” and its surface was covered with solar panels. When the ship was parked or loaded with cargo, it could be folded up and folded into the boat.

When the ship is traveling at 16 nautical miles per hour, the company estimates that the giant sail can use wind energy to cut fuel consumption by 20% to 40%, while its solar panels can have an additional 3% to 6% energy saving contribution. The installation cost of this system is A$6 million. Therefore, based on the existing oil prices, the return on investment will take several years. Danny said that if you continue to use it, future returns will not be a problem. The thing to do now is to make it work well in subtle areas.

Make the future ocean cleaner

Environmental campaigners claim that the current greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping industry have exceeded the aviation industry. If Danny's desire, that this technology can have a wider range of adaptation, it will likely make the industry "clean".

Danny said that it is very cheap to start those traditional extremely powerful engines, but they use fuels that pollute the environment. Therefore, what they can do is to ensure that they use less fossil fuels in the short term.

For the government, it has been difficult to manage and regulate this industry. The United Nations International Maritime Organization recently proposed new regulations for increasing fuel efficiency and restricting emissions of chemical compounds. More technology similar to that developed by Sun Mariner will emerge.

Although it takes another 10 years before it can be commercialized and profitable, Danny is very optimistic about the future development of the company. He said that the company will focus on areas that are less affected by the global economic downturn in the future, such as defense engineering, and they are planning to apply this technology to unmanned sea transport to replace marine patrol boats. He said that they know that these technologies will bring return on investment, but some externally uncontrollable factors will limit their development, but they are at an exciting benefit point. One of the ongoing projects will be Profit in 2012.