Solar-powered vehicles (SPVs), such as cars, boats, bicycles, and even airplanes, use solar energy to either power an electric motor directly or charge a battery, which powers the motor. They use an array of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells (or modules made of cells) that convert sunlight into electricity. The electricity either goes directly to an electric motor
powering the vehicle or to a special storage battery. The PV array can be built (integrated) onto the vehicle body itself, or fixed on a building or a vehicle shelter to charge an electric vehicle battery when it is parked.
A solar car is basically a type of EV, but the main difference from an EV is that the batteries are charged using solar panels fitted on the surface of the car. We probably won’t be able to harness the sun’s rays to power our regular vehicles because current photovoltaic cells are too inefficient and it would need a large area of cells to create even a small amount of electricity.
SPVs that have a built-on PV array differ from conventional vehicles (and most EVs) in size, weight, maximum speed, and cost. The practicality of these types of SPVs is limited because solar cells only produce electricity when the sun is shining. Even then, a vehicle completely covered with solar cells receives only a small amount of solar energy each day, and converts an even smaller amount of that to useful energy only about 1500 to 2000 watts of electricity. Even state-of-the-art PV cells only get up to around 24% efficiency. At present, most SPVs with built-on PV arrays are only used as research, development, and educational tools, or to participate in the various SPV races held around the world.
Handbook of
Automotive Power
Electronics
and Motor Drives
Edited by
Ali Emadi
Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Boca Raton London New York Singapore
A CRC title, part of the Taylor & Francis imprint, a member of the
Taylor & Francis Group, the academic division of T&F Informa plc.
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