Cars Starting To Use Solar Power In Novel Ways

We are probably a long ways from having a fully solar powered car. But solar enhanced automobiles emphatically have a place in the near future. For instance, Toyota’s Prius optionally comes with a solar panel that is powered solely on it’s own solar based power. You know how when you leave you car too long in the sun on a hot sunny day how hot the interior is when you first sit down?

The purpose of the ventilation system is to help cool off the parked car on those hot sunny days. You can start the fan by remote control before you reach the car. This starts the cooling off of the car before you even get in. As a result, once you start the car, the air conditioner doesn’t have to work as hard to bring the temperatures down to a comfortable level. This process saves energy all around.

Solar power is competing with other energy efficient technologies such as hydro-electricity to become the wave of the future as far as powering cars, van, and trucks.

Solar cars work by converting sunlight directly into electricity. Technology has already advanced far enough to be able to guide the development of solar powered golf carts and bicycles. In fact the first solar cars were actually bicycles called solarmobiles. Solar powered cars are a ways off, however, as the surface area of the car severely limits the amount of electricity that can be generated from the sun.

Solar powered cars derive their energy directly from the sun via photovoltaic panels. But the  panels in electric cars are not yet powerful and efficient enough to power a vehicle as big as an electric car for long distances. The limitation is the small amount of available space on a car to hold the solar panels. The solar power panels can, however, supplement the primary means of powering the car whether it’s electric, gas, or hydrogen powered.

Having a car completely powered by solar energy is a dream and it’s one that won’t come to fruition until many years at the earliest.

Many believe that instead of attempting to create a fully solar powered car that time is better spent developing an electric car and merely use solar power to generate electricity to power the electric car’s battery.

The thought is that smart grid technology will enable electric cars to be recharged during off-peak hours when electricity is cheaper. The other alternative is that the car will be recharged at any time using solar generated power.

Not content with waiting until full fleets of electric cars are roaming the highways, some companies are getting a head start on the new eco energy age by manufacturing solar carports. These are fully solar powered structures that allow you to plug in your electric car and recharge it for later usage. The excess electricity that it generates can be used to provide supplemental electricity for your home.

Toyota is the largest automaker to date to place solar power into a mass produced car such as the Prius. But, you can be sure that more are on the horizon.