Solar vehicle
A concentrated solar vehicle uses stored solar energy to run a heat engine, such as Rankine, Stirling or Brayton cycle, of the piston and crank type directly powering the vehicle or a free-piston linear generator (FPLG) powering a hybrid electric car system.
Most student built solar cars lack the safety and convenience features of conventional vehicles and are thus not street legal.
Wireless telemetry is typically preferred as it frees the driver to concentrate on driving, which can be dangerous in such a car without safety features.
An American company, Aptera Motors, has also been founded to make efficient solar electric cars for the public.
However in February 2023, Sono Motors terminated the Sion program and announced it would focus exclusively on being a Solar Tech Company.
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.
The Venturi Astrolab in 2006 was the world's first commercial electro-solar hybrid car, and was originally due to be released in January 2008.
[13] In May 2007 a partnership of Canadian companies led by Hymotion altered a Toyota Prius to use solar cells to generate up to 240 watts of electrical power in full sunshine.
An inventor from Michigan, USA built a street legal, licensed, insured, solar charged electric scooter in 2005.
It had a top speed controlled at a bit over 30 mph, and used fold-out solar panels to charge the batteries while parked.
The area of photovoltaic modules required to power a car with conventional design is too large to be carried on board.
It is also possible to use solar panels to extend the range of a hybrid or electric car, as incorporated in the Fisker Karma, available as an option on the Chevy Volt, on the hood and roof of "Destiny 2000" modifications of Pontiac Fieros, Italdesign Quaranta, Free Drive EV Solar Bug, and numerous other electric vehicles, both concept and production.
In May 2007 a partnership of Canadian companies led by Hymotion added PV cells to a Toyota Prius to extend the range.
[17] SEV claims 32 km (20 mi) per day from their combined 215 Wh module mounted on the car roof and an additional 3 kWh battery.
The infrared radiation generated is converted to electricity by a low band gap PV cell (e.g. GaSb).
The "Viking 29"[20] was the World's first thermophotovoltaic (TPV) powered automobile, designed and built by the Vehicle Research Institute (VRI) at Western Washington University.
Efficiency would need to be increased and cost decreased to make TPV competitive with fuel cells or internal combustion engines.
Conversion of DC from PV panels to grid alternating current (AC) was estimated to cause around 3% of the electricity to be wasted.
With a maximum speed of 25 km/h, 'Vili' is driven by two 7 kW motors capable of regenerative braking and powered by 9.9m2 of PV panels.
[31] It hopes that an average of 90,800 liters of diesel per train will be saved on an annual basis, which in turn results in reduction of 239 tonnes of CO2.
Solar powered boats have mainly been limited to rivers and canals, but in 2007 an experimental 14 m catamaran, the Sun21 sailed the Atlantic from Seville to Miami, and from there to New York.
[33] Japan's biggest shipping line Nippon Yusen KK and Nippon Oil Corporation said solar panels capable of generating 40 kilowatts of electricity would be placed on top of a 60,213 ton car carrier ship to be used by Toyota Motor Corporation.
[34][35][36] In 2010, the Tûranor PlanetSolar, a 30-metre long, 15.2-metre wide catamaran yacht powered by 470 square metres of solar panels, was unveiled.
The low power density of current solar panels limits the use of solar propelled vessels; however boats that use sails (which do not generate electricity unlike combustion engines) rely on battery power for electrical appliances (such as refrigeration, lighting and communications).
Here solar panels have become popular for recharging batteries as they do not create noise, require fuel and often can be seamlessly added to existing deck space.
[40] There is considerable military interest in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs); solar power would enable these to stay aloft for months, becoming a much cheaper means of doing some tasks done today by satellites.
The idea is to create a viable platform that can travel anywhere in the world delivering cold medical supplies and other necessitates to locations in Africa and Northern Canada without needing any kind of fuel or infrastructure.
[47] Hunt suggest that the low power consumption should allow the craft to harvest sufficient energy to stay aloft indefinitely.
It would be uneconomic to operate such a vehicle (which may be on-orbit for years) from primary batteries or fuel cells, and refuelling in orbit is not practical.
Solartaxi toured the World from July 2007 till December 2008 to show that solutions to stop global warming are available and to encourage people in pursuing alternatives to fossil fuel.
