KARUNA SHINSHO, CNN ANCHOR: And finally, to Australia, where boating is an obsession that requires constant refinement. Allard Beutel reports on the union of solar power and sails.</s>ALLARD BEUTEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This boat is taking a new approach to the century's old concept of sailing. This is the world's first combination solar and wind powered ferry. It's called "The Solar Sailer," and it's been in commercial use around Sydney for the last six months.</s>ROBERT DANE, SOLAR SAILOER: Solar boats mimic solar cars. In other words, they just put a big area of solar panels on the roof of the boat. What we've done is we've taken that a step further.</s>BEUTEL: The solar sailors computer-controlled fiberglass wings collect sunlight to power the ferry's electric motors. The winds also act like traditional sails, helping to push the boat along. Dane says this environmentally friendly technology costs about 25 percent more than a boat with a conventional motor. But he says lower maintenance and fuel savings compensate for the higher initial price.</s>DANE: But we can angle our solar panels to the sun in two flame planes, which increases the amount of energy we get from sun by 40 percent, but also we can use that same structure to do another, which is also the sail, and so these wings sail actually provide propulsion to the vessel, just like a soft sail does, and the faster we go, the more efficiently they work.</s>BEUTEL: Dain is already exploring other areas for his solar and wind technology. He says potential uses include powering cargo and passengers slip, and even military applications. Allard Beutel, CNN.
Union of Solar Power and Sails in Australia