solar car africa

n part, this was a tribute to a famous explorer; John McDouall Stuart, who on horseback opened up the centre of Australia in 1861, to the 100^th anniversary of the motor car, and to celebrate South Australia’s 150^th Jubilee Year

Then in the 1987 race, the GM Sunraycer completed the same North-South 3010 km trip with an average speed of 67 kmh, setting the scene for an extensive research and development program among the teams.

Sunlight is an excellent energy source, providing 1,000 watts per square meter on bright days. Hence, the future of using solar power is very exciting, except that to date conversion efficiencies are around the 18% mark for commercially priced cells. Solar-powered cars all get their fuel from the same place - the Sun. The cars use hundreds of photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. Each cell produces about half a volt of electricity.

When the Solar Race teams design their electrical systems they have to allow for variations in sunlight. The Sun's energy powers the car's motor and charges a battery for use when the Sun is hidden by a cloud. If a car is designed to put all of its energy toward driving and keeps nothing in reserve, it will come to a halt in cloudy weather. If too much energy is diverted to the battery, the engine runs too slowly to keep up in the race. The ratio of energy stored and energy used directly, is therefore quite an important compromise.

While engineers and still have many problems to tackle before solar power becomes an efficient and economical way to fuel vehicles, it is hoped that the constant development from racing events, will hasten a solution. The best bit about using solar power for transportation is that it's

A solar car is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the car. Solar cars are not currently a practical form of transportation as they can only operate during the day and can only carry one or two passengers. However, they are raced in competitions such as the World Solar Challenge and the American Solar Challenge. These events are often sponsored by Government agencies such as the United States Department of Energy keen to promote the development of alternative energy technology such as solar cells. Such challenges are often entered by universities to develop their students engineering and technological skills as well as motor vehicle manufacturers such as GM and Honda.

Driver's cockpit

Driver's cockpits are normally single-seat with a few cars containing room for a second passenger. They are hot from the solar panel and very cramped with few of the comforts of a normal automobile. They contain some of the features available to drivers of traditional vehicles such as brakes, accelerator, signals, rear view mirrors, ventilation and often cruise control. They also have a two way radio for communication with their support crews.

Solar cars are fitted with gauges seen in conventional motor cars and the driver's main priority is to keep an eye on these gauges to spot possible problems. Drivers also have a safety harness and optionally a helmet similar to racing car drivers.