How solar cars work

Did you know that there are currently solar cars ? Although it is still a sector that is growing, it is a technological innovation that will allow us, in the future, to move with vehicles that take advantage of and store solar energy to convert it into electricity. Just as solar panels are capable of heating our water or our home, in the motor field renewable energies have also been introduced with such force that they will be able to completely change the automotive sector in the coming years. In this article we tell you how solar cars work so you can get used to the subject.

Performance of solar cars

The basic principle on which the technology of solar cars looms is to harness the energy of sunlight transforming it into electricity. To make this modification you usually use photovoltaic cells (solar panels) that are responsible for transforming photons (light) into electrons (electricity).

Since 1987, the World Solar Challenger race has been held annually in Darwin Australia. This car race only accepts vehicles driven by solar energy and, every year, more companies are participating with new projects and proposals from the automotive sector. This is where we can see the future of solar cars and witness the enormous evolution that the sector has had in recent years.

But how do solar cars work? The key to moving the vehicle is that the solar panels are arranged against each other in the form of a sandwich. In this way it is allowed that the excess of electrons of one and the deficit of the other are interspersed and can be moved by the gaps of the other; With this combination, electrons flow and, therefore, an electrical voltage is created . In the case of cars, solar panels feed a battery that is responsible for moving the engine of the car.

In this article we tell you in a more specific way how solar energy is transformed into electrical energy, so that you understand the operation of the panels.

The first problems

As we have said, since 1987 it is innovating in the field of solar cars and scientists have been found along the way with a series of problems and problems that made people believe that the future of these vehicles was more science fiction than reality . One of the main problems encountered was that the sun did not emit enough energy in the form of radiation to be able to move a whole vehicle at the usual speed of 100 or 120 km / h.

Then they found that the photovoltaic cells that we had until then were not very advanced technologically and could take advantage of only a small part of the sun's energy to convert it into electricity. At that time an innovation was needed in the solar panels that were more efficient and that could take full advantage of photons.

All this made the solar cars that were at that time only reach tricycles that only allowed a single seat and equipped with bicycle wheels. Above this there was a kind of awning of photovoltaic panels that were in charge of transforming the energy and, therefore, of moving the vehicle.

In this article we discover the different types of solar cars that have been invented over time.

Actuality of solar cars

However, in 2014 a group of student engineers from the Netherlands surprised the World Solar Challenger by presenting a car capable of transporting 4 people for 600 kilometers in a row. Until then, the cars that were presented in Australia were prototypes since they had little autonomy and were only able to transport a person, as we have previously pointed out. For this reason, the Stella (which is the name with which they have baptized the car) has become the first family solar car in the world.

In addition to this, the Stella is one of the less heavy cars since it only reaches 380 kg because the chassis is made with light materials such as aluminum or carbon fiber, something that favors the advance, speed and autonomy of the vehicle. The solar panels are installed on the roof and the hood of the car to make the most of the sun's energy.

The Stella can travel autonomously 600 km on a single charge but, in addition, during this way it consumes less amount of energy than the panel itself has generated, so the excess can be stored in a battery that serves to be able to use it when there is no sunlight.