The primary challenge faced by the solar car is lack of sufficient energy to keep the car moving at speeds that are adequate to standard commuting. The solar arrays, or panels on top of the car that absorb sunlight, need to gather enough power to propel the vehicle into motion. This being the case, the car
itself does not have enough surface area to maintain sufficient enough energy to keep the car at steady speeds for long periods of time, let alone at high speeds. Solar technology is great for buildings and satellites because they have consistent exposure to the sun and can support batteries large enough to store extra power. These batteries are too big and heavy for the size of standard vehicles, thus most solar cars don’t have large enough solar arrays. Due to the smaller size of solar arrays, the cars need to practically always be in sunlight, which means that they power in tunnels or if parked in a garage.
Solar powered cars would be essentially useless on a cloudy day.
Solar power technology that is used for cars is often extremely expensive due to the smallness of parts.
There is an upside too, however. Over the thirty or so y ears that solar technology has been explored, important information has been learned. Much of what has been learned has guided work elsewhere, outside the car market. The development of smaller, more efficient arrays has influenced the
development of technology for attaching solar panels to fuel operated vehicles as a way to increase efficiency. Giving up on the idea for one day having highly effective solar powered cars is not necessary; solar power just needs a bit more time to mature as a technology. There may well come a day in our future when solar powered cars are the primary mode of transportation.
Jenni Sunde is a freelance fashion writer and pop culture junkie. Jenni specializes in all things lifestyle-related. From home and design to health and beauty. With her love of art and all things beautiful, she delights in sharing her sense of style from her life to your computer monitor. Her title pegs her as an editor at a website that specializes in providing people with a car insurance quote, but her passion leads her into writing with a little more substance and a lot more heart.
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14 Responses to Solar Powered Cars: Are they worth it?
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like aliens car
Oh GOD give me a solar powered car so no fuels tension
Hi Jenni, these cars are available in the market and what are the prices ?
How much does it cost ?
Hey Jenni, great article, you know Wikipedia has given this post as a reference in their article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car , you deserve that… keep writing, we will be waiting for more masterpieces
heyyyyyyyyyyy wow really great article .. thanks for shear with us .
really great article
might b…………………
Sadia,
currently, solar cars are suffering technical problems around the charging cycles: you need too much time to gain energy to manage a relatively short mileage.
In my view, once these problems are resolved, solar cars will be worth considering a purchase.
BR
Emil
I’m really enthusiastic for anything solar-related. I have very high hopes on this. I believe they can get through with the concern you mentioned. First, since the car is solar-powered, it is powered by electricity right? Because the solar energy is converted to electricity first. If they have a solar-powered station, all they have to do is to charge batteries on this station and use them to power these cars and the solar panels above the cars are just for filling the used electricity on the batteries while the car is being driven.
Solar energy is definitely the way forward. In the current context, which are less dependent on traditional power infrastructure, the better. You never know when it will not be there.
great looking solar energy powered car.amazing and beautiful
Solar powered cars would be great on fuel savings, although you’d then have to deal with the problem of driving at night.
I have seen some solar powered golf carts that work great because they’ve simple/ light weight and also don’t need tons of power. They were also the large 3 seat type golf carts used for touring college campuses, so they weren’t necessarily tiny either.
Hi, thank you for your help in understanding solar powered cars I really hope that they come about ,they would be a great way to put an end to the global worming situation
YOLO !!??