Solar Sailor Delivers Ferries in China, Makes First Profit

In 2008, a wave of fortune crashed upon Solar Sailor as the innovative shipbuilder sold one if its ferries to Suntech Power, a leading China-based manufacturer of solar panels. The deal is a main reason why 2010 will be the company’s first profitable year since it opened for business in 1999.

On June 5, Solar Sailor delivered the 186-passenger hybrid boat to Suntech — just in time for the vessel to float the Huangpu River alongside the Shanghai Expo, which is taking place this summer. Later in the month, the company will deliver a ferry to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which in 2008 agreed to purchase four solar ferries.

According to the event press release, the hybrid vessel derives power from a combination of solar power and wind power:

Solar Sailor owns patented ‘solarsail’ technology — single devices that can harvest wind and solar energy on any vehicle and has developed hybrid marine power (HMP) technology for a variety of applications from small unmanned vessels, to ferries, cruisers and tankers.

The flow of recent success has long been in the making for Solar Sailor CEO Robert Dane. According to Forbes, Dane first developed the idea for a solar watercraft that could power through ocean currents and winds back in 1997. The Australian was watching a solar-powered vessel struggle through rough winds in Sydney harbor and thought there was a way to improve the model.

: The SunTech Guosheng vessel with Dr Zhengrong Shi of Suntech and Dr Robert Dane of Solar Sailor

Two years later, Solar Sailor was born. In 2000, the company received a $1 million grant from the Australian government to construct a vessel for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Initially, many investors balked at the notion of large, solar-powered boats. Three factors helped turn the tide.

Two were a rise in crude oil prices and swell of concern for global warming. The third was the drop in price of solar modules. When developing the first prototype for the company’s solar vessel, Dane spent $12 per watt. When the Sydney ferry was constructed in 2000, the price had declined to $8 per watt. Suddenly, investor interest perked up. The price paid to outfit the most recent Hong Kong solar vessels was $2.30 per watt.

In 2005, the German investment company Mithril invested $2.4 million in Solar Sailor. That same year, Solar Sailor signed a contract with the U.S. Navy to design two unmanned vessels. Now the company has over 160 shareholders and holds $6.5 million of investment capital. Solar Sailor is currently working with a Japanese ship company to put solar sails on bulk carriers in the near future. According to Dane, a carrier that travels at 60 knots could reduce fuel consumption by 3 to 5 percent by using solar power. As for more expansion outside of China, Dane says now is not the time.

“In the short term, China will definitely be the go-to market, because America and Europe are experiencing economic problems right now,” Dane said. “China has the money and political vision for how it wants to develop, and the government is actually promoting carbon-neutral development.”