Solar Car Races - Essay Example

Solar Car Races By: + Solar car races A solar car is an electric vehicle that solemnly relies on the suns energy either directly or indirectly. For a vehicle to be defined as a solar vehicle, all its components and its propulsion must only rely on solar energy. This means that a solar powered vehicle uses the sun’s energy directly, either powering down when there is no sun, or using electricity stored in batteries that are solemnly charged by the suns energy. Since the 1970s, private investors, governments, and automobile industries have aided in the development of reliable solar driven cars, planes, boats and bikes. Although they are a long way off mainstream production and public accessibility, there are races that are held each year to promote the development of solar vehicles. The basic working principles behind a solar car’s functionality involves the convention of solar energy by photovoltaic (PV) cells in solar panels attached to the car to either electrical energy for direct powering of the car or solar energy to chemical energy which is stored in batteries and later converted to electrical energy. The electrical energy produced is used to power electric motors, which is converted to mechanical energy providing propulsion and hence putting the vehicle in motion. The photovoltaic (PV) solar panels mounted on the vehicle receive the sun’s rays where photons push electrons on silicon sheets from the immediate p-type layer to the n-type later located deeper in the panel. As the electrons move across the solar photovoltaic solar panel, an electric current is created within the sheet. The generated electric current is then transferred through wires to the power trackers; consequently, the cells’ electric field generates voltage. The generated electricity is either used directly or stored in battery packs for later use. The use of solar powered vehicles is encouraged due to certain aspects. The service requirements for such vehicles is less compared to conventional cars since it has less moving parts thus they act as money savers. This is because electric motors and other components of solar vehicles are potentially maintenance-free. Increased efficiency in terms of greatly time and cost is enhanced. Due to the lack of a gasoline tank, the cost of fuelling is not bared which also applies to the time spend when re-fuelling conventional vehicles. Solar powered vehicles are constantly absorbing solar energy even while on the move thus there are no gas stops. The use of these vehicles encourages the preservation of natural resources. Although the production of the car’s components consume energy and resources, the running and functionality of the vehicle entirely depends on renewable energy. Which the exception of lubrication oil for the motors and wheels, no other petroleum-based products are used reducing the impact on the environment. Additionally, pollution through emission of gasses is reduced since there are no emissions from the vehicle. Noise pollution is also greatly reduced since the motors designed for the solar vehicles are essentially smaller than conventional ones; they tend to function without much noise and vibration. On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks to the use of solar powered vehicle, which have actively contributed to the slow pace in the development of public usable vehicle. Solar energy although an unlimited and renewable source of energy, is not available throughout. This causes a drawback in the development of consumer ready vehicles because the vehicles battery packs cannot be sufficient to sustain the functionality of the vehicle from sundown to sunrise or in climatic conditions that only have a few hours of sunlight in a day. More battery packs cannot be added as they will cause the vehicle to increase in weight which will call for the use of more powerful motors to handle the added weight and hence reducing the efficiency of the vehicle (Siva, Vijaya, Grover and Sujay,. 2015). Another drawback is power density; the power generated from a solar ray is limited to the area exposed to it. Based on this understanding the size of the vehicle is generally affected by the amount of solar energy required to power it. Flatbed solar panels have been used to increase the surface area exposed to the sun, however, since the weight of the vehicle is a crucial aspect to is efficiency, the size of the solar panels and the vehicle have to be kept at a minimum. This causes a problem in the design of the vehicle whereby they are designed for mostly one individual to reduce the size and hence the weight of the vehicle. Although the maintenance costs are negligible, the cost of production is extremely high. Since the weight of the vehicle is crucial the materials needed to produce an efficient vehicle have to be lightweight, thus materials such as aluminium have to be bought. The cost of Photovoltaic solar panels is also an issue as they are generally costly to produce especially considering to the design and size of the required solar panels (American Solar Challenge, 2015). The vehicle design also need to be considered before they are released to the public. Essentially, solar powered vehicles are designed to carry very little weight thus they generally carry one of two people. Due to the consistent attempt to ensure that the vehicle is lightweight, the designs of the vehicles are tailored to ensure lightness other than meet the roadworthiness rules. Solar powered vehicles differ greatly in design from conventional vehicle and other electric vehicles in weight, shape and size as designers struggle to use lightweight materials and low friction composites to enhance performance (Doig and Beves, 2014). Therefore, proper attention to design details in terms of adequate chassis strength, proper seat-belts driver protection, steering, suspension, and seating and proper breaks functionalities is not considered. Based on the current designs, no road worthy solar powered vehicle has been developed that encompasses the above-mentioned requirements. Although solar energy is renewable and has not lifespan, photovoltaic cells do. According to (source1), the average lifespan of a solar module is estimated to be 30 years. This refers to photovoltaic solar panels that are used on stationary building. Concerning solar powered vehicles, the lifespan of the solar panels is greatly reduced to its mobility. Since the vehicle is mobile it is exposed to much more risks, such as collisions and intense vibrations, compared to stationary building hence the durability of the solar panels is minimized considerably. Additionally, most photovoltaic solar panels come incorporated with glass to increase durability that increased the weight of the solar panels considerably (Siva, et al., 2015). A risk is also involved in the use of solar powered vehicles due to the dependency of an unregulated power source. Most solar cars lack batteries while other use silver-zinc and nickel-metal-hydride batteries, which are not only expensive but have the capacity to hold-to-hold a lot of energy. If not handled properly, they pose a threat to the user of the vehicle (Whitfield, 2007). Due to the drawbacks explained above, solar cars are not in production but are designed and used in solar car races. According to American Solar Challenge (2015), the pioneers of solar car races are Hans Tholstrup and Larry Perkins who in 1983 completed a Solar Trek to Sydney from Perth (Australia) although the first official solar car race was the Tour de Sol, which was held in 1985. After the event a series of other solar powered races, where organized as people became aware of the design concepts of a solar powered car. Solar car races are mostly organized by organizations that promote environmental conservation by the use of green energy sources and /or automobile industries who aim at developing environmental friendly vehicles for mass production. Today most participants and organizers of solar car races are universities and high schools, such as the University of Michigan, who are eager to advance and develop their student’s technological and engineering skills. They are however sponsored by companies interested in aerodynamics, engineering and automobile design such as Bridgestone, General Motors, Toyota and Earth Day Texas (Haringman, 2014). The most common solar car races include: the Formula Sun Grand Prix, the World Solar Challenge, the South African Solar Challenge, the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge, the World Green Challenge (Japan) and the Solar Car Challenge. According to Haringman (2014), Doig and Beves (2014) and Whitfield (2007), these event are held to motivate students participating in engineering, science and alternative energy classes to be innovative and productive thus creating better solutions for handling renewable energy. In these challenges, participants learn how engineer, build and design roadworthy solar powered vehicles. This increases the probability of a production level solar powered vehicle such as the Sunswift eVe by the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sunswift), a two-passenger vehicle designed like a sports car, which has broken the world record by achieving a speed of 107km/h in a 500km stretch. These races have had an overall impact on the number of designers and sponsors interested in the development of solar powered vehicles thus hastening the development of a new road worthy, efficient and reliable solar powered vehicle. However, development is hindered by the lack of proper components and the cost of development of a solar vehicle given the cost of materials. They use of lithium based batteries had been considered but the production costs of lithium batteries that can handle the power capacity required for a smooth operation of a small solar car is too high. In conclusion, the development of solar cars will continue but mainly for their participation in solar car races for now. According to Haringman (2014), the future of solar cars is imminent and the world will benefit from the use of renewable energy, as pollution will be minimized therefore enhancing the preservation of the environment. Currently the Sunswift eVe is the fastest and closed design to a solar powered roadworthy vehicle. Therefore, more advancements in this field are bound to be revealed after the end of this year’s solar car races. Reference list American Solar Challenge, (2015). About | American Solar Challenge. [online] Americansolarchallenge.org. Available at: http://americansolarchallenge.org/about/ [Accessed 19 May 2015]. Doig, G. and Beves, C. (2014). Aerodynamic design and development of the Sunswift IV solar racing car. International Journal of Vehicle Design, 66(2), p.143. Haringman, J. (2014). Is this the second golden age of solar car racing? | SolarRacing.org. [online] Solarracing.org. Available at: http://www.solarracing.org/2014/08/04/is-this-the-second-golden-age-of-solar-car-racing/ [Accessed 19 May 2015]. Siva Bhushan Reddy, K., Vijaya Kini, M., Grover, A. and Sujay, P. (2015). Ergonomics of a Custom Made Solar Electric Car. International Journal of Engineering and Technology, 8(3), pp.212-215. Solar Car Challenge, (2015). Solar Car Challenge - The History of Solar Car Racing. [online] Solarcarchallenge.org. Available at: http://www.solarcarchallenge.org/challenge/history.shtml [Accessed 19 May 2015]. Whitfield, J. (2007). Race for a green car. news@nature. Read More