Solar-powered ferry could be headed to San Francisco

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2007 at 3:05AM

A DIY nuke detector won't be the only oddity out in the San Francisco Bay before too long, as we're hearing that Hornblower Yachts is currently lobbying for Coast Guard approval to operate a solar-powered ferry in the area by 2009. The sails (but not the actual vessel) would be created by Australia's Solar Sailor, which already has a sun-lovin' boat that cruises around the sunny Sydney Harbor and utilizes eight solar sails to dramatically decrease its consumption of diesel. Furthermore, the firm is planning to deliver a set of sails to a ginormous passenger boat in Shanghai and could be close to landing a contract for four 100-person ferries in Hong Kong. If you're wondering just how much coin you'd have to cough up to snag a few solar sails for personal use, we're told that $1.5 million of the estimated $8.5 million reserved for the San Fran boat will be headed straight to Solar Sailor, so yeah, only the affluent need apply.

[Image courtesy of Solar Sailor]

Filed under: Transportation

Tags: boat, ship, solar, solar boat, solar power, solar sailor, solar ship, solar-powered, SolarBoat, SolarPower, SolarSailor, SolarShip

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

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boynamedsue @ Nov 9th 2007 3:12AM

awesome, another ferry that will take too long to get me to work!

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Paul @ Nov 9th 2007 3:21AM

How long does it take for $1.5 Mil to offset savings on diesel hmm....

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why not the LS2/LS7? @ Nov 9th 2007 3:29AM

I'm skeptical.

Looking at the linked boat (the NZ one), it has a set of solar panels. There are 42 of them (in a grid 6x7). Let's assume these are the newest 330W panels from Sunpower.

That would mean this thing is making 13.86KW of power at noon on a sunny day. That's 18.6HP.

18.6HP is PEANUTS. It's not going to move a boat of that size at any usable speed. And it's not going to noticeably cut the Diesel usage when the boat is moving.

Neutral

Rex @ Nov 9th 2007 6:38AM

well, read above, it says these are already working in sydney, so they must be moving somehow...

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Mike Cornett @ Nov 9th 2007 12:02PM

16KW according to the link, 10 knots with wind and sun. Not to mention it STILL runs off diesel, just 1/10th the amount of a typical boat that size. Read the article before commenting.

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meateebon @ Nov 9th 2007 4:13AM

For some reason, this photo makes me think of Legos.

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daliminator2000 @ Nov 9th 2007 5:16AM

It makes me think of Star Wars Imperial Shuttles.

But maybe that's just me...

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spam_from_engadget @ Nov 9th 2007 5:20AM

I think you'll get more energy out of that thing when the wind blows on it than when the sun shines on it.

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bodonar @ Nov 9th 2007 5:58AM

Wow, that's a terrific boat-turner sail! I don't think that's good at the high speeds a ferry can sail.

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Richard Luong @ Nov 9th 2007 6:06AM

Funny thing is that it's foggy most of the time in SF Bay... would enough light get through?

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not @ Nov 10th 2007 2:15AM

have any of you ever actually been to san francisco? we're talking about the bay, not ocean beach or haight street. it's sunny down there almost every day. and while we're at it, people here don't actually eat rice-a-roni for a "treat," either.

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whyme1 @ Nov 10th 2007 2:23AM

Actually, I live in SF... and I've been down to the Bay... and I've been on several different Hornblower's ferry tours... and for many parts of where the Hornblower's ferry travels, it can get a bit foggy (and cold!) at certain times, even though further up in the atmosphere, it is quite sunny... but you are right, it's not always foggy, and even when there is, it does burn off... but for a city which has a reputation for fog (unlike Sydney which is pretty much sunny most of the time - and I grew up there BTW!), just thought I'll point out the slight irony of the situation...

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