Solar Sailor Sun Sails To Be Fitted to Chinese Cargo Ships

"A computer automatically angles the sales for maximum wind and solar efficiency"

Wouldn't it be more effective if it angled the SAILS and left SALES to the marketing dept?

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Indeed it would. And now it does. Thanks for the typo check. W.

i am curious how these large, solid sails don't create hug drag, and therefore require much more energy to push the boat, when the ship's course is into the wind? i recall jaques cousteau had a very unique sailboat with static sails (not solar) that were computer programmed to rotate as necessary to always maximize lift (the force that propels a modern sailboat in all dorections except downwind). is this system utilizing the same technology?

Sailing into the wind is possible because the sail can rotate around the mast.

Sailing into the wind does not have to be a completely straight line -- you choose to sail at a slight angle say 5 degree port into the headwind so that your sails can help propel your ship. After a while you change the angle to 5 degrees starboard. Technically you are taking a longer route but the sail should be doing more work than the extra distance travelled.

And yes these sails are using lift.

Why not throw on some kites for some wind-powered electricity, too?

Maybe even one of those Hyperion mini-nuclear reactors, and obviated the need for fossil fuels entirely.

This is very cool, and I hope it catches on.

well designed sailboats are, at best, able to sail up to 15 degrees off the wind (for a total of 30 degrees), so 5 degrees is not feasible to aquire lift unless there is something special about these solid sails that has lead to a major leap in sail technology. with a large container ship, the hull design is so awful for typical sailing, that i imagine this type of vessel would have trouble reaching anything less than 20 degrees off the wind using the retrofit. but even at 5 degrees, i can't imagine major shipping vessels, where time is such a precious commodity, allowing this retrofit to so drastically change their most important factor (hours at sea) by tacking back and forth when the shipping lane happens to be directly into the wind. tacking in a sailboat is the only option, but very time consuming, which is why steam ships so quicly replaced schooners (no longer subject to trade winds or winds at all). for this reason, is suspect that the sails are designed to provide assistance when the wind conditions are acceptable.

my REAL question was what happens when wind conditions are against the desired direction of the ship? wouldn't these huge sails create significant drag that needs to be counteracted by more power from the diesel engines? if so, wouldn't this extra effort go a long way to counteracting all benefits gained from when the winds are favorable?

5% seems a small energy contribution considering possible technical problems that could be avoided by having the type of sails that the Phoenicians, Vikings, Chinese etc. used for millenia which can be repaired on the fly with needle and thread and which could provide 100% of energy needed for propulsion. (hits self in head repeatedly with ball peen hammer while giggling/ sobbing hysterically).

What about shipping capacity? These things look like they're planted right over the cargo platform. Anyone who has seen these things at a loading dock has seen shipping crates stacked high. Won't the sails interfere with the ability to take more cargo, thereby requiring more trips in the first place?

"by tacking back and forth when the shipping lane happens to be directly into the wind"

this means they have a downwind run on the return trip, right?

(Have not sailed in a long time)

There actually is a kite sail available to use on cargo ships. That would probably be a far more efficient and economical solution. I think a cargo ship should be designed to sail, from the beginning, not as a retrofit. The use of photovoltaics would seem sort of inefficient. Probably better to just cover the ship with photovoltaics, and go for lighter sails and more surface area.
I guess the sails must fold or roll up, automatically in a storm. This ship, not being designed to be masted, probably is not going to fare very well in severe weather, unless they can get the sails out of the way.

Amazing ideas to save energy.
Not only are sails used to push the
vessel, but solar panels are added to
reuse the suns energy. Renewable
energy ideas get better every day.

thanks from tony

the thing I don't understand about these sails are that the ideal angle for the sails to get propulsion from the wind and the ideal angle for the solar cells to generate electricity are unlikely to be the same, except occasionally by chance. It gets even worse. Say there is a little wind and a lot of sun, but the angle the solar cells need is the angle that makes the wind work against the ships movement.
Finally, solar panels are expensive, and if they are not being angled for maximum output they are even more expensive. It is hard to see how this makes more sense than having regular sails and have solar panels mounted flat on the deck. If the sails were reflective, they would even be able to make up for the shade they were casting, by reflecting some of the sunlight onto the solar panels on the opposite side of the boat.

exactly Micheal... I'm wondering about the same thing as well... solar sailor, in fact has not written much about it on their web site...

I suppose the sail's curve has something to do about incident sunlight.

It looks like the sails would block the view of the helmsmen from the bridge. How do they see in front of the ship when the sails are fully deployed?