Japan's first solar cargo ship

[james]

TOKYO - THE world's first cargo ship partly propelled by solar power took to the seas on Friday in Japan, aiming to cut fuel costs and carbon emissions when automakers ship off their exports..link

if only there were some other form of propulsion that could be used to move ships across the ocean ..

[Buraku]

sounds good, but the numbers tell the truth

panels are capable of generating 40 kilowatts, or 0.2 per cent of the ship's energy consumption.

0.2% Ouch ! talk about a drop in the ocean

[joshuaism]

if only there were some other form of propulsion that could be used to move ships across the ocean ..

[james]

you'd think it'd be possible to devise a hybrid wind / turbine propulsion system such that when conditions are favourable, sails could deploy to assist. surely that'd have a much greater impact on reducing fuel consumption than 0.2%..

i'm also guessing that the mass of the sail system would be such that it's not adding a significant amount to fuel consumption when they're not in use.

maybe it's been done already.

[Behan]

Just a short look at Google but there were a few things:

Using a kite. Actually, it looks like a parasail.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/01/29/transportation-tuesday-wind-powered-cargo-ship-takes-sail/

One image at google: