Solar Powered Vehicles
Hybrid technology may be receiving most of the attention in the transportation industry, however researchers and industry enthusiasts continue to promote solar powered vehicle technology.
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Imagine a world filled with zero emission cars, trucks, SUVs and minivans running completely on solar power. That marketing approach speaks for the range of solar transportation products in testing and on the market today, from high performance race cars to back yard lawn mowers.
Traditionally, the term solar powered vehicle is loosely applied to any transportation platform fitted with a solar powered electric battery. A more relaxed definition would include electric vehicles charged by stand alone solar panels. So, for example, homeowners using their solar panels to recharge their electric lawn mowers can rightfully consider their lawn mowers solar powered.
Today's high performance solar vehicles fit the more restrictive definition, and the technology driving solar powered racing cars continues to improve, with efficiency gains in solar cells and batteries leading the way. The best of the current lot of racing cars can reach speeds in excess of 100 mph.
Solar racing cars compete in a variety of cross-country and closed-track venues. The North American Solar Challenge and the World Solar Challenge are two of the more well known and established cross-country races.
The North American Solar Challenge is a biannual, cross-country race, now sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. Teams consist of university students involved in all race phases from design to marketing to driving. The team from the University of Michigan won the 2005 race, traveling the roughly 2,500 mile race at an average speed of 46 mph. The teams latest vehicle upgrade, Continuum was publically unveiled in July 2007.
Another biannual cross country race, the World Solar Challenge in Australia, features both corporate and university teams. Now entering its twentieth year, the next race scheduled for October 2007.
The 2005 race started with 21 cars, sixteen of which completed the approximately 1,863 mile race. The winning team, Nuna 3, from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, completed the course with an average speed of 64 miles per hour.
Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, or NEVs for short, fit in a lower performance category than solar race cars. Typically NEVs are considered restricted, cart like, on-road vehicles, with local speed limits used as the restricting tool. Generally any state licensed NEV may travel on roads posted with speed limits of 35 mph or less.
Currently the market offers only a limited line of true solar powered NEVs having the ability to automatically recharge the battery while the vehicle is parked. Solar-powered battery-charging stations have been proposed in a few areas. However, most NEVs get recharged by electricity produced from fossil fuel sources.
© 2007 Patricia A. Michaels