Photovoltaic technology. The future solution for ships

Abstract

The energy sources onboard of ships has suffered many modifications in the last century, starting with sails up to marine diesel oil (MDO), which is the most used fuel for shipping. The consumption of MDO has been increasing since the shipping has been increasing. In the spite of the fact the ships produce the lowest emissions per tonne-kilometre, nowadays shipping policy is to find zero emission alternatives to the fossil fuels using. One of the best solutions is solar energy system (photovoltaic system) that now is currently used for small vessels. This new PV technology can be applied to large and medium-sized seagoing ships in special conditions. Research on the application of photovoltaic systems, which leads to significant energy savings and reduction of ships emission is presented in the paper.