Prospects of Solar Energy in the Context of Greening Maritime Transport

The aim of this article is to examine existing technologies for the use of electrical energy and to develop proposals for their improvement on maritime vessels. As a criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of alternative energy sources on ships, factors such as greenhouse gas emissions levels, production and transportation characteristics, onboard storage conditions, and technoeconomic indicators have been proposed. The analysis of fuel types reveals that hydrogen has zero greenhouse gas emissions. However, transportation and storage issues, along with the high investment required for implementation, pose barriers to the widespread use of hydrogen as fuel for maritime vessels. This article demonstrates that solar energy can serve as an alternative to gases and liquid fuels in maritime transport. The technologies and challenges in utilizing solar energy for shipping are analyzed, trends in solar energy for maritime transport are discussed, and future research directions for the use of solar energy in the maritime sector are proposed. The most significant findings include the identification of future research directions in the application of solar energy in the maritime sector, including the adaptation of concentrated solar power (CSP) systems for maritime applications; the development of materials and designs for solar panels specifically tailored to marine conditions; the development of methods for assessing the long-term economic benefits of using solar energy on vessels; and the creation of regulatory frameworks and international standards for the use of solar energy on ships. Furthermore, for hybrid photovoltaic and diesel power systems, promising research directions could include efforts to implement direct torque control systems instead of field-orientated control systems, as well as working on compensating higher harmonics in the phase current spectra of asynchronous motors.