---

Eco Marine Power (EMP) has announced today that it has received the acceptance from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for the installation of its Aquarius Marine Solar Power solution on classed vessels.

Commenting on the news in a statement, the company said: "The acceptance of this system is a major step forward for EMP and brings to the shipping market a renewable energy solution that can be integrated with other systems on board ships."

EMP says that it will now move forward and release two marine solar power packages: Aquarius Marine Solar Power and Aquarius MAS + Solar - with the latter including additional hardware and software that is designed to allow the system to perform functions such fuel oil consumption monitoring.

These marine solar power systems include a marine computer system with LCD monitor, marine-grade solar power panels, battery charge controllers, energy storage, data communication devices and interface/control units.

Power from an Aquarius Marine Solar Power solution can be used for DC or AC loads (via an inverter) and can also be used to provide a source of back-up power which, unlike standard battery back-up systems can be recharged via the marine solar panel array.

Each marine solar power solution from EMP incorporates the Aquarius MAS (Management and Automation System). This compact marine computer monitors the performance of the solar power array(s) and battery pack plus logs data, switches equipment on/off, calculates vessel emissions, records fuel consumption and displays system alarms. In addition, the Aquarius MAS can monitor system performance and alarms from a wide variety of other equipment and sensors installed on ships.

The Aquarius MAS hardware & software platform is based upon the KEI 3240 Data Logger which is already in use on hundreds of vessels including tug boats, training ships, tankers and bulk ore carriers.

Energy storage options for EMP's marine solar power solutions are provided by the Furukawa Battery Company of Japan and include FC38-12 valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries (as installed on Blue Star Delos) or FCP-500/FCP-1000 series batteries.

According to EMP, FC38-12 batteries are ideal for solar power installations up to around 5kWp. "A major advantage of the FC38-12 battery is that its relatively small size and light weight makes it ideal for installation into small (but ventilated) spaces on-board ships and other vessels," EMP said.

Furukawa Cycle Power (FCP) series battery units are described by EMP as being "a safe and high quality energy storage solution for larger scale marine solar power installations". These long-life batteries (with a lifespan of up to approximately 15 years) are said to be ideally suited to renewable energy applications and are supplied in a modular rack which reduces installation time.

An Aquarius Marine Solar Power or Aquarius MAS + Solar package is suitable for newbuild projects and can also be retrofitted to existing vessels. A marine solar power system from EMP can also be integrated with wind power devices including EMP's EnergySail technology, which is currently under development.

Commenting on the ClassNK acceptance, Greg Atkinson, Chief Technology Officer of EMP said: "The acceptance from ClassNK of our standard marine solar power system is a major step forward towards bringing type-approved renewable energy solutions to the shipping, marine and offshore industries. It is also becoming clear that solar power has an important role to play on ships in terms of reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions."

In addition to providing integrated marine solar power systems, EMP can also arrange installation support, the design and supply of deck frames for solar panels (if required), project management services and on-site installation supervision. A full turnkey installation service is also available and can be supported from technical service hubs in Japan, Singapore and Greece.