SOLAR CAR

A solar car is a light weight, low power vehicle designed and built with a single purpose in mind - racing or "raycing", a combination of "race" and "ray" from the sun. It has limited seating (one or two people) and cargo capacity, can only be driven during the day and does not represent a practical means of transportation. It does, however, offer an excellent opportunity to develop future technologies that can be applied to practical applications.The car operates by the collection and conversion of sunlight into electricity using solar cells mounted on the vehicle, which is then delivered to the car's batteries or motor. Generally, a car can operate on only 700-1500 watts of power, which is roughly the same amount of power used by a hair drier. With such small amounts of energy available, efficiency is crucial. Aerodynamic drag, weight, and rolling resistance all influence the car's design. The objective of this seminar is to provide a general idea regarding the various components and working of the solar car. 

OVERVIEW

A solar car is a vehicle, which is powered by sunâ„¢s energy. A solar car is a light weight, low power vehicle designed and built with a single purpose in mind “ racing. They have limited seating (usually one, sometimes two people), they have very little cargo capacity, and they can only be driven during the day. It does, however, offer an excellent opportunity to develop future technologies that can be applied to practical applications.The main component of a solar car is its solar array, consisting of photo voltaic cells, which collect the energy from the sun and converts it into 

usable electrical energy. The energy is passed either to the battery for storage, or to the motor to run the car, though a device called power tracker, which convert it into the required voltage. The decision on whether to transfer the power to the motor or battery is made by a small on board computer called the motor controller. It is responsible for sending the electricity smoothly to the motor when the accelerator is depressed, controlling the torque that goes to the motor such that the car maintains the desired speed. Some cars also use a process called regenerative braking, which allows some of the kinetic energy stored in the vehicleâ„¢s translating mass to be stored in the battery when the car is slowing down.

A solar car is made up of many components that have been integrated together so that they work as a single system. For the ease of explanation it has been broken down into five primary systems

CONCLUSION

The solar cars are used exclusively for racing in tournaments, at present. Though they have been around for about twenty five years now, the technology is still in the developmental stages. Hence they can not be used as a practical means of transport. The challenge lies in making it a viable means of transport. Further research is needed in this regard to improve solar panels, reduce weight, to improve reliability and to reduce the cost. Research is being carried out on many semi-conductors and their alloys to develop more efficient solar cells. It can be safely assumed that with the advent of mass production there would be greatly reduced. Thus this technology will definitely live up to its potential some time in the future.