When building the ship, solar panels will integrated into the original design of the ship.

Although, solar panels have been added to large cargo ships before, they have never been tied into the ship's system. They have been only to power living quarters for ships' crews. So connecting solar panels to the propulsion system of the ship is something new.

When working to its full ability, it will be capable of generating 40 KW and will help to conserve up to 7% of the diesel fuel cargo ships use to power engines for on-board electricity.

Nippon Oil has estimated that the solar energy system will reduce carbon emissions by between 1-2% per year. Now this might not seem a lot but it will save around 20 tons of carbon emissions. And this is just with one ship.

Nippon Oil are going to design the solar power system and Nippon Yusen KK will fund it to the tune of $1.4 million.

There are obstacles to overcome. For example, the damage the panels will incur will be different from a land based set-up. Salt exposure and vibrations are problems you wouldn't normally have to deal with.

But I'm sure the boffins over at Nippon will overcome these problems.

And whilst it might seem like 1-2% saving on carbon emissions is no big deal, Nippon's use of solar energy on their ships is at least a step forward in the right direction.

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