Auriga Leader Freighter Gets Solar Upgrade

The first partially solar-powered cargo ship has just launched in Japan, dubbed the Auriga Leader. The entire project of fitting solar panels on certain parts of the ship cost as estimated $1.68 million thereabouts, where a total of 328 solar panels are able to produce 40 kilowatts of power . While that sounds like a lot, it isn’t – it is just 0.03% of the engine power required to move this 60,000 ton behemoth when it is fully loaded with 6,400 cars. Well, at least that amount is enough for 7% of power required for lighting and other systems. It will be interesting to calculate the return on investment for the Auriga Leader – we suspect they might have to take a few trips around the globe to do so.