solar powered vehicles

solar powered vehicles

the past few years have seen a dramatic rise in the popularity of alternate energy sources,
particularly solar power. the technology which directly converts the sun's rays into electricity is proving
to be one of the more commonly used 'green' energies in the transportation markets. as research into
solar power continues to accelerate and designers are busy trying to challenge peoples ideas of how
vehicles that use it can look. over the next three pages is an eclectic selection of vehicles that use
'reliable' solar technologies.


cars, trucks and carts



‘eclectic’ by venturi, 2008
the roof of this three person car is lined with solar panels, which can produce enough energy to travel 7 KM
at almost 50 KM/H. the wind turbine on the roof of the vehicle can fuel the car for a journey twice as long.


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'car on a stick' by ross lovegrove, 2008
ross lovegrove’s ‘car on a stick’ concept sees solar powered vehicles lifted up into the air when
they are not being driven to function as street lights. hear what ross has to say about the project here







http://www.rosslovegrove.com
read the designboom interview with ross lovegrove (2006)


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‘i MIEV sport’ by mitsubishi, 2007
this battery powered car is partially charged via the solar panels on its roof and can reach speeds of
180 KM/H with a range of 200 KM. read full specifications of the car here.


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‘124 concept’ by honda, 2007



honda’s view of the future sees indivdual solar powered vehicles merging into one to use of carpool lanes.
read more


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'the solar bug' by freedrive 2007
yet another model which features solar panels on its roof top is 'the solar bug' by steve titus / freedrive.
the car has a top range of 55 KM/H and a range of almost 100 KM. read more



http://www.thisisbozeman.com
http://www.freedrive-ev.com/solarbugbrochure.pdf


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‘astrolab’ by venturi, 2006
this two-person car is topped off with ‘high-efficiency solar cells’. the ‘top of the range e-car’ can reach
an impressive about 120 KM/H and has a range of 110 KM.
http://www.venturi.fr


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these two solar vehicles, produced by honda were made to compete in the world solar challenge
an event which sees solar racers compete in australia every year.




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designs from the 2007 world solar challenge - this image shows the 'FH bochum team's car'




'solar fern'


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the ‘kudo cart’ from cruise car, 2006
see more designs form cruise car here


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'solar camper van' by verdier, 2006
this camper van soaks-up rays from the sun to power all your camping needs.






the design by verdier of candada was the recipient of a red dot award in 2006/07.
http://www.verdier.ca


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'solar powered' MX5, 2006
for this conversion japanese engineers removed the cars fuel tank and completely replaced it with a
electric motor and battery. the vehicle to run at a top speed of 100 KM/H with a maximum range of 30 KM.
read more - here and here


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in recent yeras 'green drivers' have added solar charging their electric cars.
more info on how to do so can be found here and here.


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a truck that runs on solar power stored by hydrogen fuel cells - more


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'solar-truck' from porta watts - more

Solar car, bus

Solar car and bus

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Tokai Challenger, the winner of the 2009 World Solar Challenge, with an average speed of 100.5 km/h over the 2998 km race.

A solar car is a solar vehicle used for land transport.
Solar cars combine technology typically used in the aerospace, bicycle, alternative energy and automotive industries. The design of a solar vehicle is severely limited by the amount of energy input into the car. Most solar cars have been built for the purpose of solar car races. Exceptions include solar-powered cars and utility vehicles.
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges as seen in conventional cars. To keep the car running smoothly, the driver must keep an eye on these gauges to spot possible problems. Cars without gauges almost always feature wireless telemetry, which allows the driver's team to monitor the car's energy consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters and free the driver to concentrate on driving.
Solar cars depend on PV cells to convert sunlight into electricity. Unlike solar thermal energy which converts solar energy to heat for either household purposes, industrial purposes or to be converted to electricity, PV cells directly convert sunlight into electricity.^[1] When sunlight (photons) strike PV cells, they excite electrons and allow them to flow, creating an electrical current. PV cells are made of semiconductor materials such as silicon and alloys of indium, gallium and nitrogen. Silicon is the most common material used and has an efficiency rate of 15-20%.


A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun's energy directly into electric energy. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion. Solar power may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions.
Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and solar boats are available commercially.

Solar cars

Main article: Solar car

Solar cars depend on PV cells to convert sunlight into electricity to drive electric motors. Unlike solar thermal energy which converts solar energy to heat, PV cells directly convert sunlight into electricity.^[1]
Solar cars combine technology typically used in the aerospace, bicycle, alternative energy and automotive industries. The design of a solar car is severely limited by the amount of energy input into the car. Solar cars are built for solar car races. Even the best solar cells can only collect limited power and energy over the area of a car's surface. This limits solar cars to a single seat, with no cargo capacity, and ultralight composite bodies to save weight. Solar cars lack the safety and convenience features of conventional vehicles                .
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges and/or wireless telemetry, to carefully monitor the car's energy consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters. Wireless telemetry is typically preferred as it frees the driver to concentrate on driving, which can be dangerous in such a small, lightweight car.The Solar Electric Vehicle system was designed and engineered as an easy to install (2 to 3 hours) integrated accessory system with a custom molded low profile solar module, supplemental battery pack and a proven charge controlling system.
As an alternative, a battery-powered electric vehicle may use a solar array to recharge; the array may be connected to the general electrical distribution grid.

Solar buses

Main article: Solar bus

Solar buses are propulsed by solar energy, all or part of which is collected from stationary solar panel installations. The Tindo bus is a 100% solar bus that operates as free public transport service in Adelaide City as an initiative of the City Council.^[2] Bus services which use electric buses that are partially powered by solar panels installed on the bus roof, intended to reduce energy consumption and to prolong the life cycle of the rechargable battery of the electric bus, have been put in place in China.^[3]

 
Solar buses are to be distinguished from conventional buses in which electric functions of the bus such as lighting, heating or air-conditioning, but not the propulsion itself, are fed by solar energy. Such systems are more widespread as they allow bus companies to meet specific regulations, for example the anti-idling laws that are in force in several of the US states, and can be retrofitted to existing vehicle batteries without changing the conventional engine.