SOLAR CARSSOLAR CARS

Seminar Seminar Represented by:

Name : Arpit Verma

Roll no. : 50 (1116/YCET/13) Branch : Mechanical

CONTENTSHistory

What is solar energy??

Solar car

Electrical system

Drive train

Solar array

Limitation

Material used

Advantages

Disadvantages

HISTORY

The first solar car invented was a tiny 15-inch vehicle created by

William G. Cobb of General Motors & is called the Sun mobile.

Cobb showcased the first solar car at the Chicago on august

31,1955.

The solar car was made up of 12 selenium photovoltaic cells & a

small pulley electric motor turning a pulley which in turn rotated

in the rear shaft wheel.

What is solar energy ??

Solar energy is radiant energy that is produced by sun.

The sun radiates more energy in one second then people have

used since the beginning of time.

The sun is the big ball of gasses-mostly hydrogen & helium

atoms. During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure

& temperature causes hydrogen atoms to come apart & their

nuclei to fuse to become one helium atom. The solar energy

travels to the earth at a speed of 186,000 miles per second.

SOLAR CAR

A solar car is a solar vehicle used for land transport .

Solar car combine the technology used in aerospace, bicycle,

alternative energy & automotive industries.

Solar cars can depend upon PV cells to convert sunlight into electricity.

When the sunlight strike PV cells, they excite electrons & allow them

to flow, creating an electric current. PV cells are made of semi-

conductor materials such as silicon, gallium & nitrogen. Its efficiency

rate is 15-20%.

Borealis III Racing with the Sun - Photo by Colin Burnett

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Made up of batteries and power electronics.

Batteries• Lead-Acid

• Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH)

• Nickel-Cadmium (NiCad)

• Lithium Ion

• Tesseract uses 512 li-ion batteries

Energy Flow Diagram of a Solar Car

Peak Power Trackers• maximize the power

• protect the batteries from being damaged by overcharging

• efficiencies above 95%

Motor Controllers • decides how much current actually reaches the motor

• up to 90% efficient

DRIVE TRAIN

Consist of the electric motor and the means to by which the motor's

power is transmitted the wheel

power generated is less than 5 hp

only one wheel in the rear of the car is driven by the electric motor

motor types

• brushed DC

• dual winding DC brushless

• induction

Dual-winding DC brushless

• used as an electronic transmission

Types of transmissions

• variable ratio belt drive

• hub motor

SOLAR ARRAY

made from silicon, by joining an n-type and a p-type semiconductor

grouped into space grade and terrestrial grade categories

Encapsulation

Array

SUNRUNNER'S array consisted of 14,057 razor-blade sized, 16% efficient space grade cells.

Figure of Solar array

LIMITATIONS

• Only 1000 W/m2 of energy reaches the earth’s surface in an hour of

“peak sun”

• average solar array configuration spans 8m²

• total amount of energy hitting the solar car during peak sun is

8KWh/m²

• average solar cells are only able to convert 12% to 18% to electricity

• the total amount of converted energy available to a car consists of 700-

1500 Watts

• three primary areas of energy loss consist of

• aerodynamic drag, braking, and rolling resistance

MATERIALS USED

composite material

combination of a filler material sandwiched between layers of a

structural material

structural materials

• Carbon fibre, Kevlar and fibre glass

filler materials

• Honeycomb and foam

bonded together using epoxy resins

ADVANTAGES

Solar energy is renewable.

Solar energy is environment friendly.

It can be installed anywhere.

It doesn't produces harmful gasses.

It doesn’t damage to the earth or its atmosphere.

It doesn’t cause any pollution.

It reduces dependence on fossil fuel.

DIADVANTAGES

It takes a lot of space.

It only works when the sun is shining.

It doesn’t produce much electricity for one single panel.

Its installation cost is high.

Solar cells are not efficient yet.

Current devices which are utilized are expensive.

The efficiency of the system also relies on the location of the sun.

THANK YOU