Solar vehicles

Vehicles powered by solar panels located on board are quite expensive because of the high cost of photovoltaic cells, which require high sunshine to work efficiently. Nowadays photovoltaic cells are raising high efficiencies with decreasing cost but it is unlike that cars for everyday use could be exclusively powered by solar panels essentially because of large surfaces for the photovoltaic cells required to power a 

In Fig. 5.20, the scheme for the configuration of a solar vehicle is reported. The DC-DC converter is required to adapt the voltage generated by the solar system to the voltage range proper of battery pack and electric drive. The converter is mono-directional because no energy flux goes from the battery and motor drive toward the solar panel [3, 4]. 

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Photovoltaic Systems Solar Remote Power Systems Solar Vehicle Power Systems... 

Earth to space (sateUite) to earth communication links are relatively insensitive to ionospheric disturbances. Communications between earth and manned space vehicles are barely affected by plasmas when the spaceships are well away from the atmosphere, eg, in orbit or in a translunar trajectory. However, during reentry of a spaceship, a low temperature plasma forms around the vehicle and intermpts the communication links to it (183). Plasmas are incidental to the performance of modem rockets used to explore the solar system. 

In addition, the copper industry s market development activities have resulted in appHcations such as clad ship hulls, sheathing for offshore platforms, automotive electrical systems including electric vehicles, improved automobde radiators, solar energy, fire sprinkler systems, parts for fusion reactors, semiconductor lead frames, shape memory alloys, and superconducting ceramics (qv) containing copper oxides. 

Outdoor air is generally less polluted than the system return air. However, problems with reentry of previously exhausted air occur as a result of improperly located exhaust and intake vents or periodic changes in wind conditions. Other outdoor contamination problems include contaminants from other industrial sources, power plants, motor vehicle exhaust, and dust, asphalt vapors, and solvents from construction or renovation. Also, heat gains and losses through the building envelope due to heat conduction through exterior walls, floor, and roof, and due to solar radiation and infiltration, can be attributed to effects from external sources. 

Plastics will continue to be required in space applications from rockets to vehicles for landing on other planets. The space structures, reentry vehicles, and equipment such as antennas, sensors, and an astronaut s personal communication equipment that must operate outside the confines of a spaceship will encounter bizarre environments. Temperature extremes, thermal stresses, micrometeorites, and solar radiation are sample conditions that are being encountered successfully that include the use of plastics. 

Plastics have found numerous uses in specialty areas such as hypersonic atmospheric flight and chemical propulsion exhaust systems. The particular plastic employed in these applications is based on the inherent properties of the plastics or the ability to combine it with another component material to obtain a balance of properties uncommon to either component. Some of the compositions and important properties of plastics are given in Tables 2-9 and 2-10 that have been developed over the years for use in flight vehicles and propulsion systems that are dependent upon chemical, mechanical, electrical, nuclear, and solar means for accelerating the working fluid by high temperatures. 

Progress in aeronautics and astronautics within the past decades has been remarkable because people have learned to master the difficult feat of hypervelocity flight. A variety of manned and unmanned aircraft have been developed for faster transportation from one point on earth to another. Similarly, aerospace vehicles have been constructed for further exploration of the vast depths of space and the neighboring planets in the solar system. 

Giant molecular clouds collapse to form stars and solar systems, with planets and debris left over such as comets and meteorites. Are comets and meteorites the delivery vehicles that enable life to start on many planets and move between the planets as the solar system forms, providing water and molecules to seed life The planets have to be hospitable, however, and that seems to mean wet and... 

The Solectria Company started on a small-scale in 1989 selling solar panels, electric motor controllers, and converters to college electric vehicle racing teams. This led to electric conversions on compact cars and pickup trucks but even their most basic conversion was 33,000 and most sales were to utilities and government agencies. 

Cells made from GaAs are more costly than silicon cells, because the production process is not as well developed, and gallium and arsenic are not abundant materials. GaAs cells have been used when very high efficiency is needed regardless of cost such as required in space applications. They were also used in the Sunraycer, a photovoltaic-powered electric car, which won the Pentax World Solar Challenge race for solar-powered vehicles in 1987. It ran the 3000-km from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia at an average day time speed of 66-km per hour. The 1990 race was won by a... 

Small neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) have been gaining popularity throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. There are several companies that manufacture and sell NEVs in the United States. Some of these employ solar-electric technology. 

In solar NEVs the solar-electric panels and the charge controller keep the batteries charged while not overcharging them. The owner can park the NEV in the sun and the vehicle will charge itself. If it is a cloudy day and the owner wants to charge the vehicle, it can be plugged into ordinary house current. 

The shape of an NEV is free to take many forms, since it is not constrained by the conventional internal combustion engine s requirements for space. The electric motor is very small and the battery compartment is kept low in the vehicle for a low center of gravity, so it is often under the rear storage bay. Amorphous cell panels allow simple curved solar panels to be a part of the vehicle. 

The Sunmobile SunVee is a solar neighborhood vehicle. Solar electric panels are integrated with the body to charge batteries which power an electric motor. The neighborhood range is about 30 miles with a top speed of about 25 miles/hour. The Sunmobile is based on a commercial four-wheeled, two person, pedaling bike, called a Rhoades Car. 

Sunnev offers kits for building solar electric vehicles that seat two with a 25 mph top speed a range of 20 miles. A small panel on the hood provides about 3 miles per day travel on a sunny day and larger panels on the roof bring that up to 12 to 16 miles per day. 

The Quaranta is a concept hybrid gas/electric vehicle with solar assist. The electric portion is made by Italdesign Giugiaro. The roof is a solar panel that charges the batteries and provides energy for the climate control system. The all wheel drive, mid-engined car accelerates from zero to 62 mph (100 kph) in 4.05 seconds and tops out at 155 mph. This is a three-seat high performance sports car. 

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