Solar Powered Car

Electrical Solar Panels (PV or Photo Voltaic Cells) produce electricity from sunlight.

There are lots of so called ‘solar powered’ models around but often the PV Cells are not properly matched to the electric motor and they don’t work all that well.

The model shown centre right works very well in the sun as you can see from the video clip.

It works even from indirect sunlight or when the Sun is low in the sky.

I experimented with different types of cells but the ratings given for the cells was simply not true and they couldn’t supply enough power. They were also ridiculously expensive!

This was very disappointing so I had my own panels made by an industrial manufacturer and they work really well.

Solar powered vehicle kit

This kit of parts makes a fantastic solar powered vehicle. You can design and make your own body to fit on top of the chassis and experiment with vehicle speed by changing the drive pulleys on the electric motor.


	See the ‘Boxed kits for sale pages’ for prices of this and other fun and interesting projects.



		A battery is supplied so that the vehicle will run as a combined solar-electric and battery-electric car. You could replace the normal battery by a rechargeable battery just like in a real electric car. The difference is that your vehicle can charge up the battery from the Sun and then power the vehicle when required! You can even design your own solar powered charging station with the solar panel on the station roof! This reduces the weight of the vehicle!


	Designing the body for the vehicle is great fun - here is a body made from card by a student at Monkwearmouth College in Sunderland.






		Look at the detail in the car interior!!!! Steering wheel and dashboard controls.

Will solar panels ever be able to power a typical car?

There would have to be a very large area covered by the solar panels - far greater than the area of the car body!

However, as technology advances, new cells may be developed which convert a higher proportion of the Sun’s rays into electricity.

This could mean that a real solar family car might be a possibility.

It could sit in the car park charging up from the Sun all day and then be ready to go when you want to make a journey!

It would still have to carry batteries though! - because you might need to drive home in the dark!

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