Introduction:A solar car is a light weight, low power vehicle designed and

built with a single purpose in mind - racing , 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.
A solar car is a solar vehicle used for land transport.
Solar cars are often fitted with gauges as seen in conventional
cars. To keep the car running smoothly, the driver must keep
an eye on these gauges to spot possible problems. Cars
without gauges almost always feature wireless telemetry, which
allows the driver's team to monitor the car's energy
consumption, solar energy capture and other parameters and
free the driver to concentrate on driving.
Solar cars depend on photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into
electricity. Unlike solar thermal energy which converts solar
energy to heat for either household purposes, industrial
purposes or to be converted to electricity, PV cells directly

convert sunlight into electricity. When sunlight (photons) strike

PV cells, they excite electrons and allow them to flow, creating
an electrical current. PV cells are made of semiconductor
materials such as silicon and alloys of indium, gallium and
nitrogen. Silicon is the most common material used and has an
efficiency rate of 15-20%.
The solar array can be mounted in several ways:

Horizontal. This most common arrangement gives most

overall power during most of the day in low latitudes or
higher latitude summers and offers little interaction with the
wind. Horizontal arrays can be integrated or be in the form
of a free canopy.

Vertical. This arrangement is sometimes found in free

standing or integrated sails to harness wind energy.[3] Useful
solar power is limited to mornings, evenings, or winters and
when the vehicle is pointing in the right direction.

Adjustable. Free solar arrays can often be tilted around

the axis of travel in order to increase power when the sun is
low and well to the side. An alternative is to tilt the whole
vehicle when parked. Two-axis adjustment is only found on
marine vehicles, where the aerodynamic resistance is of less
importance than with road vehicles.

Integrated. Some vehicles cover every available surface

with solar cells. Some of the cells will be at an optimal angle
whereas others will be shaded.

Trailer. Solar trailers are especially useful for retrofitting

existing vehicles with little stability, e.g. bicycles. Some
trailers also include the batteries and others also the drive
motor.

Remote. By mounting the solar array at a stationary

location instead of the vehicle, power can be maximised and
resistance minimized. The virtual grid-connection however
involves more electrical losses than with true solar vehicles
and the battery must be larger.

The choice of solar array geometry involves an optimization

between power output, aerodynamic resistance and vehicle
mass, as well as practical considerations. For example, a free
horizontal canopy gives 2-3 times the surface area of a vehicle
with integrated cells but offers better cooling of the cells and
shading of the riders. There are also thin flexible solar arrays in
development.
Solar arrays on solar cars are mounted and encapsulated very
differently from stationary solar arrays. Solar arrays on solar
cars are usually mounted using industrial grade double-sided
adhesive tape right onto the car's body. The arrays are
encapsulated using thin layers of Tedlar.
Some solar cars use gallium arsenide solar cells, with
efficiencies around thirty percent. Other solar cars use silicon
solar cells, with efficiencies around twenty percent.
Battery
The battery pack in a typical solar car is sufficient to allow the
car to go 250 miles (400 km) without sun, and allow the car to
continuously travel at speeds of 60 mph (97 km/h).
Motor
The motors used in solar cars typically use less power than a
toaster, about 2 or 3 horsepower, yet solar cars can attain the
same speed as a typical family car (100 miles per hour
(160 km/h)

SOLAR CARS
1. AN OVERVIEW
A solar car is a vehicle, which is powered by suns 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 photovoltaic 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 onboard 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 vehicles 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:
Driver Controls & Mechanical Systems
Electrical System
Drive Train
Solar Array
Body and Chassis
VENTILATION:

High temperatures are obviously bad for the driver (and

passenger), but they are also bad for electrical and electronic
components as high temperatures will generally reduce the
efficiency and shorten the life of solar cells, batteries, motors,
motor controllers and other electronic equipment.
Something like 10 kilograms of air would typically have to be
provided every minute to approach passenger car comfort
levels. Obviously, that's seldom feasible in a solar car due to
the drag that it might impose on the vehicle, if such cooling
flows are not also required by electrical, electronic and
mechanical components of the vehicle.
Vehicle designers usually use the same airflow several times
over as it passes through the vehicle; for example cooling
driver, electronics, electrics and motor sequentially. Placing a
sizeable air inlet at the forward stagnation point of the vehicle
minimizes drag due to the opening. The mechanical systems of
a solar car are designed to minimize friction and weight while
maintaining the strength needed to handle the various
road conditions. Lightweight metals like titanium and
composites are commonly used to maximize the strength-toweight ratio.
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 cannot 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 semiconductors 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 sometime in
the future.