Building a solar powered car is a lofty goal. If you don’t know much about cars or solar energy, you will definitely need some experts to guide you through the process. However, as long as you have the time, desire and money to take on this large project, you will end up with
efficient transportation.
Because of the parts, building a solar powered car can cost you anywhere from $12,000 and up. The main parts include the solar array, power trackers, batteries, motor controller, motor and the wheel. The solar arrays collect the sun’s energy and send it through the power trackers where it’s converted so that the batteries can store the energy. The motor control decides how much energy is needed to run the motor.
Solar arrays can be made from solar cells or prefabricated solar panels. Terrestrial-grade cells are less costly than space-grade cells, but they are less efficient. If you use the solar cells, you need to strategically design the way they are wired together. For example, wiring 3 sets of 250 cells when you have a total of 750 cells may be more efficient and functional, because if one of these sets fails, you have a couple of back ups. You also have to consider the power trackers, because different ones require a certain amount of energy.
When it comes to the batteries, some people use lead-acid ones (least expensive) while others use lithium-ion or nickel-cadmium. The number of batteries is dependent upon how many volts of energy your system uses.
There are so many factors to keep in mind when building a solar powered car. Even after you have all of the main parts, you still have to be conscious of the instrumentation (state-of-charge meter), steering, suspension, brakes, tires and hubs. Building this type of car is no easy task, which is why some people go to car professionals who specialize in solar powered car conversions so they don’t have to start from scratch. But if you really want to give it a try, you can always start with smaller toy cars and move up to standard cars when you gain more experience or recruit knowledgeable friends for the project.
