How to Build a Solar Car

Solar power is a field that is moving forward by leaps and bounds. As the cost of petroleum-based fuels rise around the world many innovative inventors and universities are building real, working solar-powered cars. You can get in on the action too by building your own solar car, here's how.

Instructions

1. Decide what types of solar cells you want to use on the car. Various types of solar cells exist and vary from very expensive and efficient to cheap and inefficient.

2. Build a frame from light composites or light alloy metals; light metal cages surrounded by a wing or shallow wedge shaped fiberglass, Kevlar or foam combinations are popular body types.

3. Install an electric engine axial flux and brushless DC motors like the one sold by New Generation Motor Company are popular among leading solar-care racers.

4. Attach wheels to the solar-cars chassis with a quality suspension and steering system. At times, the car will start to pull up from the road and will rely on the shocks to keep the weight of the car balanced on its tires.

5. Tires should be lightweight with lightweight aluminum or alloy rims. High-quality bicycle brake systems as used on racing mountain bikes is the norm for most solar racers.

6. Use a lead car and a follow car for test drives. Taking a solar-powered car on the highway requires a special license in most states, so check out the state's rules before driving the solar-car on public roads.

Tips & Warnings

• Elementary and junior high kids can check out competitions to build toy solar-cars. The Renewable Energy Project has a site geared towards teaching students of renewable energy.

• Solar cars are very expensive to build; some teams defray their costs by allowing contributing business to by ad space on the follow vehicle trailer.

• Principia University of Elsah, Illinois has a long history of building solar cars. You can see a detailed display of their car's design specifications.

• Due to their wing shapes and light weight solar cars can sometimes lose traction due to lift. Be careful when operating a wing-shaped solar-car.

Resources

• The Renewable Energy Project website.
• The official website for the Panasonic World Challenge website.
• The website for the Winston School's solar programs.
• The official website of Principia University.