Friday, December 19, 2008

Solar Powered Ship Launches In Japan

When I saw that headline, I thought to myself, wow, way to go; on opening the article from CBCNews, I have to admit that I felt a little crestfallen. Seems that the photovoltaics used to provide supplementary power to the vessel's 440V electrical system are capable of providing just 0.2% of the ship's energy consumption.

Ahhh so, grasshopper, remember that big trees from little acorns grow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Even made it to the Straits Times via Agence France Presse.

They too opted for a headline that inferred that solar was powering a wee bit more than the fridge. A 99.8% shortfall is not exactly that impressive.

Not sure these stories really advance the cause of enviROI+ too much.

I think looking back at sail might be more productive. Maybe when the solar materials are perfected we might see a useful combo? When there's no wind there's usually sun, and when there's no sun there's usually a breeze.