SOLAR CARS
A
Seminar
Submitted
In partial fulfilment
For the award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Technology
In Department of Electrical Engineering
Submitted By :
Supervisor
Rajendra Kumar
A.J. sir
Department of Electrical Engineering
Government Engineering College Ajmer
Rajasthan Technical University
CONTENTS
What is Solar Car?
History of Solar Car
Components of a Solar Car
Advantages
Disadvantages
Conclusion
Reference
What is a Solar Car?
A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered by a type of
renewable energy, by solar energy obtained from solar panels on
the surface of the vehicle.
History of Solar Car
First Solar Car was invented in 1955 by Willam G. Cobb.
That was called “SUN MOBILE”.
It had 12 PV cells and the size was about 12 inch. Sun Mobile(first solar car)
Components of a Solar Car
Working Principle of Solar Cell
Solar cell
Solar Array
Electric Motor & Wheel
Mechanism
Battery
Speed Controller
Working Principle of Solar Cell
• When sunlight falls on the PV Cell, it absorbs the energy from photons
and free the electrons from the Semi-conductor.
• A flow of electrons takes place which produces an electricity.
Solar Cell
• A solar cell converts solar energy to electrical energy.
• Photons in sunlight provide the energy that moves electrons from one layer of a semi-
conducting metallic wafer to another.
• The movement of the electrons creates a current.
• The most common solar cells function by the photovoltaic effect.
• “Photo” means light and “Voltaic” means electrical current or electricity.
Solar Array
• The array is made up of many (often several hundred) photovoltaic solar cells.
• It collects the direct sun radiation and converts to electricity. It is the main
source of power to the Solar Car.
• The power produced by the solar array varies depending on the weather, the
sun's position in the sky, and the solar array itself.
Electric Motor
• An electric motor is a device using electrical energy to produce mechanical energy.
• An electric motor is the basic and the most important part of a solar car.
• It should work with optimal power and the efficiency should be high.
• It is used to drives the wheels.
Mechanism
Battery
• After the Charge controller convert the energy to the energy that is
usable for the car, it send to the battery then the battery store the
energy.
• This energy is send to the motor and controller to make the car run.
Speed Controller
The purpose of a motor speed controller is to take a signal
representing the demanded speed, and to drive a motor at that speed.
The controller may or may not actually measure the speed of the
motor.
Speed Controller
Advantages
1. Reduced pollution
2. Reduced energy cost
3. Produce less noise
4. Unlimited source
Disadvantages
1. High initial cost
2. Lesser speed than regular car
3. Less efficient in cloudy weather
4. Limited to solar regions only
CONCLUSION
The vehicle use solar energy as source of power to drive the motor, and the
motor power is transmitted to the wheels and the vehicle to move. No need
of battery so less weight as one battery weighs 50 to 70 kgs equivalent to
one person’s weight.
The weight of the vehicle is decreases so speed of the vehicle is increases,
and efficiency of the vehicle is also increases. High speed can be achieved
easily as compared to battery used vehicle.
Reference
• 1. M.A.Green, S.R.wenham, M.E.Watt,”Applied photovoltaics” p.n.-151
• 2. Japan’s Kyocera corp ,”Rising solar cars” ,p.n.-29.
• 3. P.Basu, H.saha “Science abstracts “p.n.123.
• 4. Klutz press,” Solar car book” Aug-2001, p.n.-151
• 5. Doug stillinger,” Solar car book” p.n.120.
• 6. Bhandari V.B.”Design Of Machine Element” Tata McGraw Hill Book Co.Inc, 2009, p.n.445-454.
THANK YOU
