| With zero emissions, solar cars present a sunny | | | | development stage. |
| solution to eco-friendly car buyers. It also makes good | | | | Are there any solar cars out there? |
| sense to develop a green car technology that doesn't | | | | French manufacturer Venturi says their solar electric |
| call for a complicated infrastructure or any type of | | | | AstroLab hybrid concept car yields an improved PV |
| fueling station. What could be easier than using an | | | | cell efficiency level of 21%. It's not exactly a family car |
| already existing energy source like the Sun, right? | | | | with its 2-seat tandem cockpit configuration, but it's one |
| After all it was around since the beginning of the solar | | | | possibility. The Hungarian manufacturer Antro has |
| system, well before fossil fuel. If it were only that | | | | designed a solar gas-electric hybrid other wise known |
| simple, we'd probably already have done it. In spite of | | | | as a tribrid scheduled for production in 2012, and Tesla |
| universities and corporations building solar cars every | | | | Motors has an electric car that can be recharged with |
| year for the past 20 years for the annual Australian | | | | solar power with 2009 models available in the U.S. and |
| World Solar Challenge solar car race, we're not quite | | | | Europe. These are only the first advances in solar car |
| there yet. | | | | technology. As time goes on more and more |
| How do they work? | | | | manufacturers will be developing and incorporating |
| A solar car is really an electric vehicle powered by | | | | some type of solar technology into preexisting |
| solar energy. Photovoltaic (PV) cells in the form of | | | | propulsion systems. This will create a new sort of |
| solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy. The | | | | hybrid, disconnected from fossil fuels, yet still not fully |
| process generates heat, which is converted into | | | | reliant on the Sun's energy |
| electrical energy and stored in an on-board battery. | | | | Perhaps with the recent high intensity photvoltaic cells |
| The battery serves the same basic purpose as a gas | | | | designed by a company in Israel, many of the energy |
| tank on an internal combustion car. | | | | efficiency problems will be taken care of. It is not clear |
| In spite of the great bounty of sunshine there for the | | | | though if they can be designed for cars. |
| taking, solar car technology is elusive. The solar electric | | | | Conclusion |
| power source needs a lot of PV cells, which are | | | | Solar energy and more specifically solar cars would be |
| expensive, and the efficiency level of PVs is estimated | | | | an amazing advancement in future car technology. |
| to be only 10% to 15%. These are daunting challenges | | | | They would allow for free travel and nearly unlimited |
| facing engineers, and it's more likely a hybrid solar with | | | | accessibility. Time will tell if all the problems associated |
| another fuel source is the only viable option in the near | | | | with harnessing the world's oldest energy source can |
| future, yet the concept is intriguing enough for | | | | be dealt with. If the hurdles can be passed then for |
| engineers inside and outside universities to take a pure | | | | sure solar cars will be the wave of the future. |
| solar car prototype into a more advanced | | | | |