A solar car is an electric vehicle that is powered by the solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the vehicle. These solar cars are not the practical transportation devices for daily usage presently, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by the government agencies.
Inside these solar cars the photovoltaic cells convert the sun’s energy directly into electrical energy. Solar cars use the combination of a variety of technologies typically used in the aerospace, bicycle, alternative energy and automotive industries. The design of a solar vehicle is usually severely limited by the energy input into the car as it has the batteries and receives plenty of power from the sun. Most of the solar cars ever built have been for the purpose of solar car races
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges as in case of the conventional cars. Apart from keeping the car on the road, the driver’s main priority should be to keep an eye on these gauges to spot possible problems. Cars without gauges available for the driver will almost always feature wireless telemetry. Wireless telemetry 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 just driving.
The most important part of the solar car’s systems is its electrical system as it controls all of the power that comes into and leaves the system. The battery pack plays the same role in a solar car that a petrol tank plays in a normal car in storing power for future use.
Solar cars use a range of batteries including lead-acid batteries, nickel-metal hydride batteries and the Nickel-Cadmium batteries. Many solar racing cars have complex data acquisition systems that monitor the whole electrical system while even the most basic cars have systems that provide information on battery voltage and current to the driver.
The mechanical systems of a solar car are designed to keep friction and weight to a minimum while maintaining strength. Designers normally use titanium and composites to ensure a good strength-to-weight ratio.
The initial solar cars were actually tricycles or quadricycles built with bicycle technology. Presently the solar cars usually have three wheels, but few have even four. Three wheelers usually have two front wheels and one rear wheel: the front wheels steer and the rear wheel follows. Four wheel vehicles are set up like normal cars or similarly to three wheeled vehicles with the two rear wheels close together.
The two most notable solar car races are the World Solar Challenge and the North American Solar Challenge, overland road rally-style competitions contested by a variety of university and corporate teams.
The popular North American Solar Challenge, previously known as the ‘American Solar Challenge’ features mostly collegiate teams racing in timed intervals in the United States and Canada. The latest North American Solar Challenge took place from June 13th to June 22nd, 2008, from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta.
A practical application for solar powered vehicles is possibly golf carts, some of which are used relatively little but spend most of their time parked in the sun. Some solar cars have also been employed for free standing or integrated sails to harness wind energy
Many countries across the world are in the quest of building better solar cars and the recent developments include a Swiss project, Solar taxi, seeking to build a road-worthy solar car featuring a trailer carrying a 6 m² sized solar array.
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