Solar vehicle
Encyclopedia
A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle
powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun
's energy directly into electric energy. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion
. Solar power
may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions.
Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and solar boats
are available commercially.
power from a solar array is limited by the size of the vehicle and area that can be exposed to sunlight. While energy can be accumulated in batteries to lower peak demand on the array and provide operation in sunless conditions, the battery adds weight and cost to the vehicle. The power limit can be mitigated by use of conventional electric cars supplied by solar (or other) power, recharging from the electrical grid.
Solar cars combine technology typically used in the aerospace
, bicycle
, alternative energy
and automotive industries. The design of a solar car is severely limited by the amount of energy input into the car. Solar cars are built for solar car races
. Even the best solar cells can only collect limited power and energy over the area of a car's surface. This limits solar cars to a single seat, with no cargo capacity, and ultralight composite bodies to save weight. Solar cars lack the safety and convenience features of conventional vehicles.
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges and/or wireless telemetry
, to carefully monitor the car's energy consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters. Wireless telemetry is typically preferred as it frees the driver to concentrate on driving, which can be dangerous in such a small, lightweight car.
As an alternative, a battery-powered electric vehicle may use a solar array to recharge; the array may be connected to the general electrical distribution grid.
Solar photovoltaics helped power India's first Quadricycle
developed since 1996 in Gujarat state's Surat
city.
The first solar "cars" were actually tricycles or quadricycles built with bicycle technology. These were called solarmobiles at the first solar race, the Tour de Sol
in Switzerland in 1985 with 72 participants, half using exclusively solar power and half solar-human-powered hybrids. A few true solar bicycles were built, either with a large solar roof, a small rear panel, or a trailer with a solar panel. Later more practical solar bicycles were built with foldable panels to be set up only during parking. Even later the panels were left at home, feeding into the electric mains, and the bicycles charged from the mains. Today highly developed electric bicycles are available and these use so little power that it costs little to buy the equivalent amount of solar electricity. The "solar" has evolved from actual hardware to an indirect accounting system. The same system also works for electric motorcycles, which were also first developed for the Tour de Sol
. This is rapidly becoming an era of solar production. With today's high performance solar cells, a front and rear PV panel on this solar bike can give sufficient assistance, where the range is not limited by batteries.
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. This is reported as permitting up to 15 km extra range on a sunny summer day while using only the electric motors.
One 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.
An inventor from Michigan, USA has built a street legal, licensed, insured, solar charged electric scooter. It has a top speed controlled at a bit over 30 mph, and uses fold-out solar panels to charge the batteries while parked.
s on passenger cars in order to ventilate the car, reducing the temperature of the passenger compartment while it is parked in the sun. Vehicles such as the 2010 Prius, Aptera 2, Audi A8, and Mazda 929 have had solar sunroof options for ventilation purposes.
The area of photovoltaic modules required to power a car with conventional design is too large to be carried onboard. A prototype car and trailer has been built Solar Taxi. According to the website, it is capable of 100 km/day using 6m2 of standard crystalline silicon cells. Electricity is stored using a nickel/salt battery. A stationary system such as a rooftop solar panel, however, can be used to charge conventional electric vehicles.
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 Fiero
s, 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. SEV claims 20 miles per day from their combined 215W module mounted on the car roof and an additional 3kWh battery.
On 9 June 2008, the German and French Presidents announced a plan to offer a cedit of 6-8g/km of CO2 emissions for cars fitted with technologies "not yet taken into consideration during the standard measuring cycle of the emissions of a car". This has given rise to speculation that photovoltaic panels might be widely adopted on autos in the near future
It is also technically possible to use photovoltaic technology, (specifically thermophotovoltaic
(TPV) technology) to provide motive power for a car. Fuel is used to heat an emitter. The infrared radiation generated is converted to electricity by a low band gap PV cell (e.g. GaSb). A protoype TPV hybrid car was even built. The "Viking 29" 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.
Several Personal Rapid Transit
(PRT) concepts incorporate photovoltaic panels.
PVTRAIN
PVTrain concluded that the most interest for PV in rail transport was on freight cars where on board electrical power would allow new functionality:
In addition to on-vehicle solar panels, there is the possibility to use stationary panels to generate electricity specifically for use in transport.
A few pilot plants have been built in the framework of the "Heliotram" project, such as the tram depots in Hannover Leinhausen and Geneva (Bachet de Pesay). The 150 kWp Geneva site injected 600V DC directly into the tram/trolleybus electricity network provided about 1% of the electricity used by the Geneva transport network at its opening in 1999.
Direct feed to a DC grids avoids losses through DC to AC conversion. DC grids are only to be found in electric powered transport: railways, trams and trolleybuses.
to Miami, and from there to New York.
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
.
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. It is set to circumnavigate
the Earth and is so far the largest solar-powered boat ever built.
Various demonstration systems have been made. Curiously, none yet takes advantage of the huge power gain that water cooling would bring.
In 2007, the PV powered boat Transatlantic 21 successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean power only by solar electricity.
There is considerable military interest in unmanned aerial vehicle
s (UAVs); solar power would enable these to stay aloft for months, becoming a much cheaper means of doing some tasks done today by satellites. In September 2007, the first successful flight for 48h under constant power of a UAV was reported.
This is likely to be the first commercial use for photovoltaics in flight.
Many demonstration solar planes have been built, some of the best known by AeroVironment
.
A solar-powered aircraft in Switzerland completed a 26-hour test flight starting at 7 a.m. on 8 July 2010 which ended at 9 a.m. the next day. The plane was flown to a height of nearly 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) by Andre Borschberg. During the evening, the plane slowly descended to an altitude of 4,500 feet (1,500 meters), where it remained for the rest of the night using battery power. An hour before dawn, the plane still had six hours of flying time left in its solar-fueled batteries.
Just 15 days later on 23 July 2010 the QinetiQ Zephyr
, a lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle
engineered by the United Kingdom defence firm QinetiQ
, claimed the endurance record for an unmanned aerial vehicle. It flew in the skies of Arizona for over 2 weeks (336 hours). It has also soared to over 70,700 feet (21.5 km).
Solar energy is often used to supply power for satellites and spacecraft operating in the inner solar system since it can supply energy for a long time without excess fuel mass. A Communications satellite
contains multiple radio transmitters which operate continually during its life. It would be uneconomic to operate such a vehicle (which may be on-orbit for years) from primary batteries
or fuel cell
s, and refuelling in orbit
is not practical. Solar power is not generally used to adjust the satellite's position, however, and the useful life of a communications satellite will be limited by the on-board station-keeping fuel supply.
have used solar power as an energy source for their propulsion system.
All current solar powered spacecraft use solar panels in conjunction with electric propulsion, typically ion drives as this gives a very high exhaust velocity, and reduces the propellant over that of a rocket
by more than a factor of ten. Since propellant is usually the biggest mass on many spacecraft, this reduces launch costs.
Other proposals for solar spacecraft include solar thermal heating of propellant, typically hydrogen or sometimes water is proposed. An electrodynamic tether
can be used to change a satellitte's orientation or adjust its orbit.
Another concept for solar propulsion in space is the light sail; this doesn't require conversion of light to electrical energy, instead relying directly on the tiny but persistentradiation pressure
of light.
and the 1997 Mars Pathfinder
used solar power to propel remote controlled vehicles. The operating life of these rovers far exceeded the limits of endurance that would have been imposed, had they been operated on conventional fuels.
. Palmer suggests the most economical location for solar panels for an electric car is on building rooftops though, likening it to putting money into a bank in one location and withdrawing it in another.
Solar Electrical Vehicles is adding convex solar cells to the roof of hybrid electric vehicles.
The 2010 Toyota Prius model has an option to mount solar panels on the roof. They power a ventilation system while parked to help provide cooling. There are many applications of photovoltaics in transport either for motive power or as auxiliary power unit
s, particularly where fuel, maintenance, emissions or noise requirements preclude internal combustion engines or fuel cells. Due to the limited area available on each vehicle either speed or range or both are limited when used for motive power.
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...
powered completely or significantly by direct solar energy. Usually, photovoltaic (PV) cells contained in solar panels convert the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
's energy directly into electric energy. The term "solar vehicle" usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion
Vehicle propulsion
Vehicle propulsion refers to the act of moving an artificial carrier of people or goods over any distance. The power plant used to drive the vehicles can vary widely. Originally, humans or animals would have provided the propulsion system, later being supplemented by wind power...
. Solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
may be also used to provide power for communications or controls or other auxiliary functions.
Solar vehicles are not sold as practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises, often sponsored by government agencies. However, indirectly solar-charged vehicles are widespread and solar boats
Electric boat
While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...
are available commercially.
Limitations
There are lions to using photovoltaic (PV) cells for vehicles:- Power density: Santa
power from a solar array is limited by the size of the vehicle and area that can be exposed to sunlight. While energy can be accumulated in batteries to lower peak demand on the array and provide operation in sunless conditions, the battery adds weight and cost to the vehicle. The power limit can be mitigated by use of conventional electric cars supplied by solar (or other) power, recharging from the electrical grid.
- Cost: While sunlight is free, the creation of PV cells to capture that sunlight is expensive. Costs for solar panels are steadily declining (22% cost reduction per doubling of production volume).
- Design considerations: Even though sunlight has no lifespan, PV cells do. The lifetime of a solar module is approximately 30 years. Standard photovoltaics often come with a warranty of 90% (from nominal power) after 10 years and 80% after 25 years. Mobile applications are unlikely to require lifetimes as long as building integrated PV and solar parks. Current PV panels are mostly designed for stationary installations. However, to be successful in mobile applications, PV panels need to be designed to withstand vibrations. Also, solar panels, especially those incorporating glass have significant weight. To be useful, the energy harvested by a panel must exceed the added fuel consumption caused by the added weight.
Solar car
Solar cars depend on PV cells to convert sunlight into electricity to drive electric motors. Unlike solar thermal energy which converts solar energy to heat, PV cells directly convert sunlight into electricity.Solar cars combine technology typically used in the aerospace
Aerospace
Aerospace comprises the atmosphere of Earth and surrounding space. Typically the term is used to refer to the industry that researches, designs, manufactures, operates, and maintains vehicles moving through air and space...
, bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
, alternative energy
Alternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....
and automotive industries. The design of a solar car is severely limited by the amount of energy input into the car. Solar cars are built for solar car races
Solar car racing
Solar car racing refers to competitive races of electric vehicles which are powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the car . The first solar car race was the Tour de Sol in 1985 which led to several similar races in Europe, USA and Australia...
. Even the best solar cells can only collect limited power and energy over the area of a car's surface. This limits solar cars to a single seat, with no cargo capacity, and ultralight composite bodies to save weight. Solar cars lack the safety and convenience features of conventional vehicles.
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges and/or wireless telemetry
Telemetry
Telemetry is a technology that allows measurements to be made at a distance, usually via radio wave transmission and reception of the information. The word is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure...
, to carefully monitor the car's energy consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters. Wireless telemetry is typically preferred as it frees the driver to concentrate on driving, which can be dangerous in such a small, lightweight car.
As an alternative, a battery-powered electric vehicle may use a solar array to recharge; the array may be connected to the general electrical distribution grid.
Single-track vehicles
A solar bicycle or tricycle has the advantage of very low weight and can use the riders foot power to supplement the power generated by the solar panel roof. In this way, a comparatively simple and inexpensive vehicle can be driven without the use of any fossil fuels.Solar photovoltaics helped power India's first Quadricycle
Quadricycle
Quadricycle, quadracycle, quadcycle, quadrocycle refers to any vehicle with four wheels.More specifically the term may refer to:...
developed since 1996 in Gujarat state's Surat
Surat
Surat , also known as Suryapur, is the commercial capital city of the Indian state of Gujarat. Surat is India's Eighth most populous city and Ninth-most populous urban agglomeration. It is also administrative capital of Surat district and one of the fastest growing cities in India. The city proper...
city.
The first solar "cars" were actually tricycles or quadricycles built with bicycle technology. These were called solarmobiles at the first solar race, the Tour de Sol
Tour de Sol
The Tour de Sol in Switzerland was the first rally for solar powered vehicles. It was carried out annually from 1985 to 1993. The first event started on June 25 in Romanshorn on the Lake of Constance, and finished on June 30 in Geneva. 72 vehicles started in two classes; over 50 finished...
in Switzerland in 1985 with 72 participants, half using exclusively solar power and half solar-human-powered hybrids. A few true solar bicycles were built, either with a large solar roof, a small rear panel, or a trailer with a solar panel. Later more practical solar bicycles were built with foldable panels to be set up only during parking. Even later the panels were left at home, feeding into the electric mains, and the bicycles charged from the mains. Today highly developed electric bicycles are available and these use so little power that it costs little to buy the equivalent amount of solar electricity. The "solar" has evolved from actual hardware to an indirect accounting system. The same system also works for electric motorcycles, which were also first developed for the Tour de Sol
Tour de Sol
The Tour de Sol in Switzerland was the first rally for solar powered vehicles. It was carried out annually from 1985 to 1993. The first event started on June 25 in Romanshorn on the Lake of Constance, and finished on June 30 in Geneva. 72 vehicles started in two classes; over 50 finished...
. This is rapidly becoming an era of solar production. With today's high performance solar cells, a front and rear PV panel on this solar bike can give sufficient assistance, where the range is not limited by batteries.
Applications
The Venturi Astrolab in 2006 was hailed as the world's first commercial electro-solar hybrid car, and it was originally due to be released in January 2008.In May 2007 a partnership of Canadian companies led by Hymotion altered a Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
to use solar cells to generate up to 240 watts of electrical power in full sunshine. This is reported as permitting up to 15 km extra range on a sunny summer day while using only the electric motors.
One 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.
An inventor from Michigan, USA has built a street legal, licensed, insured, solar charged electric scooter. It has a top speed controlled at a bit over 30 mph, and uses fold-out solar panels to charge the batteries while parked.
Auxiliary power
Photovoltaic modules are used commercially as auxiliary power unitAuxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...
s on passenger cars in order to ventilate the car, reducing the temperature of the passenger compartment while it is parked in the sun. Vehicles such as the 2010 Prius, Aptera 2, Audi A8, and Mazda 929 have had solar sunroof options for ventilation purposes.
The area of photovoltaic modules required to power a car with conventional design is too large to be carried onboard. A prototype car and trailer has been built Solar Taxi. According to the website, it is capable of 100 km/day using 6m2 of standard crystalline silicon cells. Electricity is stored using a nickel/salt battery. A stationary system such as a rooftop solar panel, however, can be used to charge conventional electric vehicles.
It is also possible to use solar panels to extend the range of a hybrid or electric car, as incorporated in the Fisker Karma
Fisker Karma
The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid luxury sports sedan produced by Fisker Automotive and manufactured at Valmet Automotive in Finland. The United States Environmental Protection Agency rated the Karma's combined city/highway fuel economy at equivalent in all-electric mode, and at in...
, available as an option on the Chevy Volt, on the hood and roof of "Destiny 2000" modifications of Pontiac Fiero
Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero is a mid-engined sports car that was built by the Pontiac division of General Motors from 1984 to 1988. The Fiero—meaning "proud" in Italian and "wild", "fierce", or "ferocious" in Spanish—was designed by George Milidrag and Hulki Aldikacti as a Pontiac sports car...
s, 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
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...
to extend the range. SEV claims 20 miles per day from their combined 215W module mounted on the car roof and an additional 3kWh battery.
On 9 June 2008, the German and French Presidents announced a plan to offer a cedit of 6-8g/km of CO2 emissions for cars fitted with technologies "not yet taken into consideration during the standard measuring cycle of the emissions of a car". This has given rise to speculation that photovoltaic panels might be widely adopted on autos in the near future
It is also technically possible to use photovoltaic technology, (specifically thermophotovoltaic
Thermophotovoltaic
Thermophotovoltaic energy conversion is a direct conversion process from heat differentials to electricity via photons. A basic thermophotovoltaic system consists of a thermal emitter and a photovoltaic diode cell....
(TPV) technology) to provide motive power for a car. Fuel is used to heat an emitter. The infrared radiation generated is converted to electricity by a low band gap PV cell (e.g. GaSb). A protoype TPV hybrid car was even built. The "Viking 29" 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.
Personal Rapid Transit
Personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit , also called podcar, is a public transportation mode featuring small automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guide ways...
(PRT) concepts incorporate photovoltaic panels.
Rail
PV panels were tested as APUs on Italian rolling stock under EU project.PVTRAIN
PVTrain concluded that the most interest for PV in rail transport was on freight cars where on board electrical power would allow new functionality:
- GPS or other positioning devices, so as to improve its use in fleet management and efficiency.
- Electric locks, a video monitor and remote control system for cars with sliding doors, so as to reduce the risk of robbery for valuable goods.
- ABS brakes, which would raise the maximum velocity of freight cars to 160 km/h, improving productivity.
In addition to on-vehicle solar panels, there is the possibility to use stationary panels to generate electricity specifically for use in transport.
A few pilot plants have been built in the framework of the "Heliotram" project, such as the tram depots in Hannover Leinhausen and Geneva (Bachet de Pesay). The 150 kWp Geneva site injected 600V DC directly into the tram/trolleybus electricity network provided about 1% of the electricity used by the Geneva transport network at its opening in 1999.
Direct feed to a DC grids avoids losses through DC to AC conversion. DC grids are only to be found in electric powered transport: railways, trams and trolleybuses.
Water
Solar powered boats have mainly been limited to rivers and canals, but in 2007 an experimental 14m catamaran, the Sun21 sailed the Atlantic from SevilleSeville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
to Miami, and from there to New York.
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
Toyota Motor Corporation
, , , commonly known simply as Toyota and abbreviated as TMC, is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production.The company was founded by...
.
In 2010, the Tûranor PlanetSolar
Tûranor PlanetSolar
Tûranor PlanetSolar, also known under the project name PlanetSolar, is an entirely solar powered boat that was launched on 31 March 2010. It was built by Knierim Yachtbau in Kiel, Germany, and was designed by LOMOcean Design, formerly known as Craig Loomes Design Group Ltd....
, a 30 metre long, 15.2 metre wide catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
yacht powered by 470 square metres of solar panels, was unveiled. It is set to circumnavigate
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
the Earth and is so far the largest solar-powered boat ever built.
Various demonstration systems have been made. Curiously, none yet takes advantage of the huge power gain that water cooling would bring.
In 2007, the PV powered boat Transatlantic 21 successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean power only by solar electricity.
Air
Solar ships can refer to solar powered airships or hybrid airships.There is considerable military interest in unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
s (UAVs); solar power would enable these to stay aloft for months, becoming a much cheaper means of doing some tasks done today by satellites. In September 2007, the first successful flight for 48h under constant power of a UAV was reported.
This is likely to be the first commercial use for photovoltaics in flight.
Many demonstration solar planes have been built, some of the best known by AeroVironment
AeroVironment
AeroVironment Inc. is a technology company in Monrovia, California, and Simi Valley, California, that is primarily involved in energy systems, electric vehicle systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles . Paul B. MacCready, Jr., a famous designer of human powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971...
.
- Manned solar planes
- Gossamer PenguinAstro FlightAstroflight, Incorporated is a manufacturer of products for electric-powered radio controlled aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, brushless industrial motors, the world's first solar-powered aircraft and the world's first practical electric radio controlled model airplane...
, - Solar ChallengerSolar Challenger|-See also:-External links:*...
- This plane flew 163 miles (262 km) from ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
on solar power. - Sunseeker II - This plane is currently (May 9) on a tour of Europe
- HB-SIA. Working prototype for Solar Impulse Project
- Gossamer Penguin
- UAVsUnmanned aerial vehicleAn unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
- Pathfinder and Pathfinder-Plus - This unmanned plane demonstrated that an airplane could stay aloft for an extended period of time fueled purely by solar power.
- Helios - Derived from the Pathfinder-Plus, this solar cellSolar cellA solar cell is a solid state electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect....
& fuel cellFuel cellA fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
powered UAVUnmanned aerial vehicleAn unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
set a world record for flight at 96,863 feet (29,524 m). - Zephyr - built by Qinetiq, this UAV set the unofficial world record for longest duration unmanned flight at over 82 hours on 31 July 2008
- Future projects
- Sky sailor (aimed at Martian flight)
- Solar ImpulseSolar ImpulseSolar Impulse is a Swiss long-range solar powered plane project being undertaken at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. The project eventually hopes to succeed in the first circling of the earth with a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar...
(aimed at manned circumnavigation of the globe) - various solar airship projects e.g. Lockheed Martin's "High Altitude Airship"
A solar-powered aircraft in Switzerland completed a 26-hour test flight starting at 7 a.m. on 8 July 2010 which ended at 9 a.m. the next day. The plane was flown to a height of nearly 28,000 feet (8,500 meters) by Andre Borschberg. During the evening, the plane slowly descended to an altitude of 4,500 feet (1,500 meters), where it remained for the rest of the night using battery power. An hour before dawn, the plane still had six hours of flying time left in its solar-fueled batteries.
Just 15 days later on 23 July 2010 the QinetiQ Zephyr
QinetiQ Zephyr
Zephyr is a lightweight solar-powered UAV which was originally designed and built by the QQ1 "Edge of Space" team who were sponsored by the United Kingdom defence firm, Qinetiq. It is of carbon-fibre construction, and uses sunlight to charge a lithium sulphur battery during the day, which powers...
, a lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
engineered by the United Kingdom defence firm QinetiQ
QinetiQ
Qinetiq is a British global defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency , when it was split up in June 2001...
, claimed the endurance record for an unmanned aerial vehicle. It flew in the skies of Arizona for over 2 weeks (336 hours). It has also soared to over 70,700 feet (21.5 km).
Solar powered spacecraft
Solar energy is often used to supply power for satellites and spacecraft operating in the inner solar system since it can supply energy for a long time without excess fuel mass. A Communications satellite
Communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
contains multiple radio transmitters which operate continually during its life. It would be uneconomic to operate such a vehicle (which may be on-orbit for years) from primary batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
or fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
s, and refuelling in orbit
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
is not practical. Solar power is not generally used to adjust the satellite's position, however, and the useful life of a communications satellite will be limited by the on-board station-keeping fuel supply.
Solar propelled spacecraft
A few spacecraft operating within the orbit of MarsMars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
have used solar power as an energy source for their propulsion system.
All current solar powered spacecraft use solar panels in conjunction with electric propulsion, typically ion drives as this gives a very high exhaust velocity, and reduces the propellant over that of a rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
by more than a factor of ten. Since propellant is usually the biggest mass on many spacecraft, this reduces launch costs.
Other proposals for solar spacecraft include solar thermal heating of propellant, typically hydrogen or sometimes water is proposed. An electrodynamic tether
Electrodynamic tether
Electrodynamic tethers are long conducting wires, such as one deployed from a tether satellite, which can operate on electromagnetic principles as generators, by converting their kinetic energy to electrical energy, or as motors, converting electrical energy to kinetic energy...
can be used to change a satellitte's orientation or adjust its orbit.
Another concept for solar propulsion in space is the light sail; this doesn't require conversion of light to electrical energy, instead relying directly on the tiny but persistentradiation pressure
Radiation pressure
Radiation pressure is the pressure exerted upon any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation. If absorbed, the pressure is the power flux density divided by the speed of light...
of light.
Planetary exploration
Perhaps the most successful solar-propelled vehicles have been the "rovers" used to explore surfaces of the Moon and Mars. The 1977 Lunokhod programmeLunokhod programme
Lunokhod was a series of Soviet robotic lunar rovers designed to land on the Moon between 1969 and 1977. The 1969 Lunokhod 1A was destroyed during launch, the 1970 Lunokhod 1 and the 1973 Lunokhod 2 landed on the moon and the 1977 Lunokhod was never launched...
and the 1997 Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
used solar power to propel remote controlled vehicles. The operating life of these rovers far exceeded the limits of endurance that would have been imposed, had they been operated on conventional fuels.
Electric vehicle with solar assist
A Swiss project, called "Solartaxi", has circumnavigated the world. This is the first time in history an electric vehicle (not self sufficient solar vehicle) has gone around the world, covering 50000 km in 18 months and crossing 40 countries. It is a road-worthy electric vehilce hauling a trailer with solar panels, carrying a 6 m² sized solar array. The Solartaxi has Zebra batteries, which permit a range of 400 km without recharging. The car can also run for 200 km without the trailer. Its maximum speed is 90 km/h. The car weighs 500 kg and the trailer weighs 200 kg. According to initiator and tour director Louis Palmer, the car in mass production could be produced for 16000 Euro. Solartaxi has 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 fuelFossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
. Palmer suggests the most economical location for solar panels for an electric car is on building rooftops though, likening it to putting money into a bank in one location and withdrawing it in another.
Plug-in hybrid and solar vehicles
An interesting variant of the electric vehicle is the triple hybrid vehicle—the PHEV that has solar panels as well to assist.The 2010 Toyota Prius model has an option to mount solar panels on the roof. They power a ventilation system while parked to help provide cooling. There are many applications of photovoltaics in transport either for motive power or as auxiliary power unit
Auxiliary power unit
An auxiliary power unit is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft, as well as some large land vehicles.-Function:...
s, particularly where fuel, maintenance, emissions or noise requirements preclude internal combustion engines or fuel cells. Due to the limited area available on each vehicle either speed or range or both are limited when used for motive power.
See also
- List of solar car teams
- Electric aircraft
- Electric boatElectric boatWhile a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail power and gasoline engines also remaining popular, boats powered by electricity have been used for over 120 years. Electric boats were very popular from the 1880s until the 1920s, when the internal combustion...
- Frisian Solar ChallengeFrisian Solar ChallengeThe Frisian Solar Boat Challenge is a solar boat race.The race starts in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, and follows the classic route of the Eleven City Tour...
- Kit carKit carA kit car, also known as a "component car", is an automobile that is available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then either assembles into a car themselves, or retains a third party to do part or all of the work on their behalf...
- Low-cost solar cell
- Plug-in hybrid
- Solar balloonSolar balloonA solar balloon is a balloon that gains buoyancy when the air inside is heated by the sun's radiation, usually with the help of black or dark balloon material. The heated air inside the solar balloon expands and has lower density than the surrounding air. As such, a solar balloon is similar to a...
- Solar-charged vehicle
- Solar Golf CartSolar golf cartSolar golf carts are golf carts powered by mounting a photovoltaic or thin film panel on top of the existing roof or using a PV panel as the roof itself. A controller converts the sun's energy to charge the golf cart's 36-volt or 48-volt battery bank...
- South African Solar ChallengeSouth African Solar ChallengeThe South African Solar Challenge is an alternative fuel vehicle auto racing challenge in South Africa, with classes for hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, solar vehicles, and biofuel-powered vehicles. The first challenge was run in 2008, and it will run every two years thereafter. The race...
- Tour de SolTour de SolThe Tour de Sol in Switzerland was the first rally for solar powered vehicles. It was carried out annually from 1985 to 1993. The first event started on June 25 in Romanshorn on the Lake of Constance, and finished on June 30 in Geneva. 72 vehicles started in two classes; over 50 finished...
- The Quiet Achiever
- SunmobileSunmobileSunmobile was a model of a solar-powered automobile. William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corporation built and demonstrated his 15-inch long model at the 1955 General Motors car show in Chicago on August 31, 1955. The automobile was a futuristic miniature representation to show the possibilities...