The Japan Coast Guard has decided to combine solar energy and wind power to generate electricity for four lighthouses across Japan, Coast Guard officials said.

They said Saturday that the hybrid system, which they described as unique in the world, would be launched sometime next year. Lighthouses that operate solely on solar power are already in use.

The four beacons are in Hokkaido's Matsumae, Chiba Prefecture's Futtsu, Shizuoka Prefecture's Shimoda and Kagoshima Prefecture's Kasasa.

The dual-power system will eliminate the need to transport fuel to the lighthouses as well as simplify their management and be environmentally friendly, they said. They currently run on diesel engines.

The hybrid idea followed the realization that the four are not large enough to be equipped with solar panels.

Aids to Navigation Department officials also took into account the relatively small but highly efficient wind power generation devices with which the lighthouses were rigged in 1951.

Officials have long promoted the use of alternative sources of energy for lighthouses as most are on remote islands or at the tips of capes, where securing a power source is difficult.

Nearly one-third of Japan's estimated 5,500 navigation aids, including lighthouses and buoys, currently use natural power sources. The Coast Guard said it hopes to make it 40 percent by 2005.