International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 1; January 2011 113 Techno Economic Study of Potential Using Solar Energy as a Supporting Power Supply for Diesel Engine for Landing Craft O. Sulaiman* A. H. Saharuddin W.B. Wan Nik M.F. Ahmad Department of Maritime Technology Faculty of Maritime Studies and Marine Science University Malaysia Terengganu, Malaysia Email: o.sulaiman@umt.edu.my* A.S.A. Kader Department of Mechanical Engineering, University Technology Malaysia, Skudai, Johor. Malaysia E-mail: abdsaman@fkm.utm.my Abstract Increasing price of oil and the concern of maintaining clean environment have become the main reasons for a shipping company to focus on the vessel fuel consumption. Fuel economy has become a major concern due to the increasing of oil price. The availability of fossil fuels is limited and depleting day by day as the consumption is increasing very rapidly. Environmental impact by diesel exhaust is also taken into consideration as diesel exhaust is a complex mixture of thousands of gases and fine particles (commonly known as soot) that contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants. These include many known or suspected cancer-causing substances, such as benzene, arsenic and formaldehyde. As for these matters, renewable energy is said to have potential in replacing fossil fuels in providing energy and is more environmental friendly. Solar energy represents one of the best practice available alternative energy to mitigate this challenge. Solar energy can assist in supporting auxiliary power for the instrument on board vessel such as landing craft. This study will determine the potential of using solar PV system onboard a landing craft by analyzing the reduction usage of fuel and diesel exhaust as well as carrying out economical analysis. The power requirement for the vessel was calculated. Fuel and money saved by using solar panels were obtained and comparison between data of using diesel alone and using solar panels as supporting power supply were analyzed. Economical analysis were obtained by determining data of cost estimation, cash flow diagram, Annual Average Cost (ACC), and return investment of both vessel with the support of solar PV system and without solar PV system. Key words: Solar PV system, landing craft, auxiliary power supply, fuel reduction, Annual Average Cost (ACC) 1. Introduction A lot of studies had been carried out in order to find an alternative energy for fossil fuel with other renewable energy resources. One of the most promising renewable energy is the use of solar energy. Solar energy can save sailing vessel and powerboat owner’s money by reducing their dependence on shore power and or gas/diesel generated electricity. Solar power has become an important part of ocean-cruising by providing recreational and commercial boaters a secure, safe, sustainable and renewable energy source. Solar energy is holding out promise for reduced usage of fossil fuels, with consequent economic and environmental benefits [1,2].