Building a Car Powered by Solar or Green Energy Is Not Easy But

Posted by Rolf Joho on November 5th, 2009 filed in What Causes Global Warming

Hybrid Cars are now very easy to come by these days and the prices have really dropped.Though they are not the final answer in saving our planet, they are a great step in the right direction.

However If you want to build your own Car using Solar Power - Green Energy Source

Most cars are powered by fossil fuel or better known as Gas.  But there is so much volatility in the price of crude oil crude is not renewable source of energy.The countries that have all of these resources are ripping our money out of our pockets as we lean back and pump this junk into our cars and then into the air we breath.Don’t you think it is time that we do something about this before it is too late.  Given that solar energy, a green energy source can be used to power a community, you can also do this on a small scale by using the same principles to build your own car.  Sounds like an impossible task right?

What does it take to make this work?  A lot of things but the two most important are the solar array and the batteries.The solar array is very important as it collects the sun rays and converts it into electical energy. There is the prefabricated type and the individeual kind that you have to set up yourself.

You can get branded parts from places like Siemens and ASE Americas they sell terrestrial grade cells and the space grade cells. Terrestial grade is the lower end and it does produce a significant amount of power.

You must complete the wiring properly in order to make sure your vehicle keeps moving even if one of the panels stops working.  The voltage of the solar array should match the system voltage of your motor, you should not to worry because it will still run.

The battery is what is used to store the energy after it is soaked up from the sun. So the batter is a very important factor in building a solar powered car.  There are a few options in batteries and they are lead acid, lithium-ion or nickel-cadmium.The voltage of the engine determines how many you will have to buy.After purchasing these two parts, you are going to have to connect them to your engine. Do you know how to do this.So you know how much juice is left in your batteries, you will also need to install instrumentation similar to the heads up display console on regular cars which tells you your speed, mileage and gas.

All of this seem to be such a task and if you are not into building things or just don’t have the time, why not just purchase a hybrid car until the big Auto Makers get on board.If you use a hhybrid car, it is much better than driving a 1976 Coupe Devill and there are cars that can travel many miles on only one gallon of gas.  Take the Toyota Prius as an example.  They have tested this vehicle on 2 gallons of gas and they traveled 100 miles and still did not run out of gas.Adam Carolla took on this challenge only a few weeks ago and was featured on SPEED television.

Well I guess my point here is that you can build your own solar powered car and drive around with a large solar panel on the top of your car or you can take advantage of the new technology being provided by the car industry and drive a hybrid car.

Related Reading:

Time: Global Warming: The Causes, the Perils, the Politics - and What It Means for YouPlanet Earth is heating up, and so is the debate over why our climate is changing and what it means for the future of our energy sources, of our cities, of our children. Now "Time" explores the science of global warming in an illuminating, beautifully illustrated book that ranges from polar ice caps to equatorial rainforests. Here are the scientists who are working to measure and counter the warming trend; here are the world's most endangered habitats and creatures; here are various scenarios for the future. Separating truth from fantasy, "Time" brings a cool eye to today's hottest issue.

Time (Global Warming: The Causes- The Perils- The Solutions- The Actions: What You Can Do)

Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and SolutionsHuman-induced climate change is a serious concern, drawing increasing attention from the media, policy makers and citizens around the world. This comprehensive and thought-provoking volume explains in easily understandable language the potential effects of climate change on our planet and our lives.

Climate Change: Causes, Effects and Solutions examines the latest scientific findings without any advanced technical knowledge. It goes beyond a description of changes in the physical environment to consider the broader issues of ecological, economic and human effects of climate change.

The book explains:

• the causes and effects of climate change from a natural and human environment perspective.
• mitigation options and policies that could reduce the impacts of climate change.
• global impacts -  with case studies are taken from North America, Europe, Australasia and elsewhere.

Essential reading for undergraduates and general readers who want to heighten their knowledge and understanding of this important problem.

Is your lunch causing global warming? Cars and factories are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the planet. But what you ... An article from: New York Times UpfrontThis digital document is an article from New York Times Upfront, published by Scholastic, Inc. on January 18, 2010. The length of the article is 1977 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Is your lunch causing global warming? Cars and factories are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the planet. But what you eat may have even more of an impact.(ENVIRONMENT)
Author: Elisabeth Rosenthal
Publication: New York Times Upfront (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 18, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Volume: 142 Issue: 8 Page: 6(6)

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning

The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don't Want You to Know About--Because They Helped Cause ThemIain Murray's rollicking exposé reveals how environmental blowhards waste more energy, endanger more species, and actually kill more people than the environmental villains they finger.