Automotive Industry’s Innovation Towards Solar Electric Vehicles

 

With the passage of time there is a thinking that there should be renewable and sustainable energy system and solar power cars have come to the fore. Most of the companies are working towards making solar power cars and definitely technology could change the future of automotive industry well. Solar cars are basically the electric cars that use photovoltaic cells to convert the energy from the sun light into electricity. These cars can store some solar energy in batteries to allow them to run smoothly especially at night as in the absence of sunlight. If we think this technological and creative idea on larger scale, solar power cars could not only help with environmental pollution but also with noise pollution. Many different companies are working on this environment friendly technology and hopefully there will be solar cars, busses, trains and aero planes in near future.

Many prototypes of solar-powered cars are currently in development. Both larger and small automaker are trying to development fully automatic solar car. According to some experts estimate solar vehicle market could reach $689 billion by 2027. Automobile companies are already working on the ideas to capitalize on the ideas with meantime technology, such as solar roof, panels for charging batteries and internal systems. However solar cars only have number of serious designs and technological limitations. Some of these are partly tied to attractiveness, how the car will look with all the solar panels or sheets around it? Solar car needs to be accommodated with several solar panels, and there is limited space for that. The reason why most solar vehicles developed so far are meant to run in solar car races and not meant for regular use. However, so far, none of the solar vehicle is designed in a way that can totally rely on solar energy.

How do Solar-powered cars work?

A solar panel allows the particle of light to excite electrons, generating the flow of electricity. Solar panels are made up of many smaller units called photovoltaic cells that are linked together. Each cell is essentially a sandwich of two slices of semi-conducting material, such as silicon. The silicone is mixed with two other materials, usually, phosphorus and boron to give each slice a positive or negative charge. This creates and electric field at the junction between the two layers. When a photon of sunlight knocks an electron free the electric filed will push that electron out of the silicon junction. Metal conductive plates on the sides of the cell collect the electron and transfer them through the wires. At that point, electrons can flow like any other source of electricity.

Solar cars benefit us several ways

·         Save money on fuel

·         Environment friendly

·         No additional maintenance expects battery replacement

·         Don’t cause noise pollution or air pollution

Some developments in solar power cars

A Sola power car named Sion was built by Sono Motors. The company claims that it is the first commercially available hybrid solar-electric vehicle. It has the range of up to 160 miles and can charge itself using the sola power. It is equipped with 248 solar cells that are integrated into its body. On average it takes only 30 minutes to charge up to 80% at the charging station. However, the important thing to be noted is that the sola panels are not intended to help with charging the vehicle. In fact, it is not designed to run on solar power alone. Companies like Toyota, Hyundai and other are also working on building a fully functioning solar car or maybe a hybrid version of it. There are also some other car projects, making automobile technology more sustainable in future.