Solar Powered Cars

Are solar powered cars the future means of transport?

With fuel prices on the rise, the need for alternative fuel to run our cars is increasing. Add the increased emissions of green house gases to this fact and it is no surprise that many alternative fuel concepts are coming to the surface. Many concepts are being put to the test nowadays and some automotive companies have brought out cars that run on other forms of energy.

Of the alternative fuel concepts, the oldest concept has been that of using solar power to drive out cars. The elements of nature are for human kind to make use of and every need of the human race is present in the nature around us. We just need to identify it and put it to use.


	New pages on cars using alternative energy, the first is about the electric car - one of the first few ideas on replacing fuel, the second is a page about Hybrid cars that seem to be doing very well on the global markets these day.

The sun is known to be the basic source of life on earth. Without the sun, life on planet earth would not be possible. The energy that comes from the sun is called solar energy. Light and heat from the sun are being used for many purposes. Various heating systems, thermal power plants and also electricity from solar energy are in use thanks to the sun. This solar energy if properly trapped and put to use will help one to run a lot of appliances around him. There are many homes today that run totally on solar power and those home owners are happy about the investment they have made. Solar energy is available to everyone and making proper use of it is what many researchers are trying to do.

The whole concept of solar cars was started in the early 1990’s when emission laws were being enforced all around the United States. Many colleges and universities started looking at the possibility of solar powered cars. But it was soon found out that for cars to run, the solar collectors needed were very large. Still a lot of development is going on solar collectors make it small enough to be placed on cars to allow it to run longer distances. Lot of automotive companies are also doing tremendous research on solar powered cars. Some companies like Panasonic have conducted World Solar Challenge for the past 20 years where hundreds of solar powered cars participate.

The Winston Solar Car Team started an educational program in the year 1993 which provides workshops, leaning materials and does on-site visits to the various high schools across the country. Such programs motivate students to learn more about solar energy and how to make maximum use of it. With many companies like this working towards harnessing solar energy, it is not surprise that over the last few years, tremendous advancements have taken place in the field of solar powered cars. Nowadays solar powered cars can run longer distances than what they could earlier. However, still there is the need for lot more development to make solar powered cars feasible.

Solar powered cars run on electric power and this electric power comes from the solar collectors. Hundreds of photovoltaic cells are placed in the car and these cells can convert sunlight into electricity. This energy is then stored in solar collectors which in turn feeds the electric motor to run the car. Each photovoltaic cell produces about one-half volt of electricity and hence the need for hundreds of such cells. The downside is that solar cars would not work properly on cloudy days as they do not get enough sunlight to produce the electricity. Also running solar powered cars during nights is limited and can run until the electricity stored in the battery is exhausted. Having larger batteries to store electric power is possible, but it would mean that there is no place for people to travel in the car.

Solar powered cars when running on stored energy tend to be very slow. Steeper roads would mean that the energy used is more and the distance it can travel is less. So, ideal roads for solar powered cars would be to have leveled roads. The race is on to create more powerful batteries that has a larger storage capacity and also is smaller and lighter. If that happens then solar powered cars would no longer be small, light weighted cars that can carry only one person. Many engineers and scientists are constantly developing the components that make up a solar powered car to ensure that somewhere in the near future, solar powered cars can replace the today’s combustion engine cars.

Solar powered cars are pollution free and also solar energy is inexhaustible. This is why so much of research is being put into making solar powered cars. It has been a combined effort of scientists, engineers and various companies from all over the world to ensure that today’s solar powered cars are able to travel longer distances and also maybe in a few years be able to run on our roads like any other normal car. There are a lot of problems that engineers and scientists have to tackle before they can roll out a solar powered car that is efficient and economical. The encouraging news about solar powered cars is that it is believed solar cars would some day in the near future replace the existing combustion cars. This would mean lesser emissions of green house gases thereby making our earth a better place for us to live in.