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Solar power has become one of the most widely accepted and used forms of renewable energies, being most potent in the form of photovoltaic cells to power residential and commercial buildings using rooftop solar panels, with 1 in 5 Australian households having solar power and a projected 50% renewable capacity by 2025. However, solar-powered vehicles are not yet widespread or largely commercially available for everyday consumers, as technologies which have been developed and prototypes which have been created have not become commercially sustainable or suitable. The solar-vehicle market is estimated to reach an approximate $1.39 Billion AUD (or approximately $1 Billion USD) within 2020, with prototypes and early partially-solar powered vehicles already being produced.
(Above): The 2019 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is one of the first partially solar-powered cars which have become commercially available to consumers (although it has not yet reached the Australian marketplace).
Although commercial solar cars are yet to become widespread or easily accessible for consumers, especially Australian consumers as many solar cars have not yet been approved for the Australian Market, there is still an extensive history associated with the creation and development of solar-powered vehicles, as the innovation and technology of the vehicles have improved and become increasingly reliable, striving to become a viable option to compete against existing, traditional vehicles.
(Left): UNSW student solar car sets a new world record in efficiency for solar-powered vehicles in 2018, 63 years after the first solar car was showcased in 1955
(Above): Bell Labs' first Photovoltaic cell
In 1955, the first solar-powered automobile was showcased in Chicago, Illinois, by William Cobb of General Motors. The appropriately named "Sunmobile" was 15 inches long, thus being too small to drive, and featured a small electric motor, which when operational was connected to a pulley which then rotated the rear wheel shaft to move the vehicle. The car also incorporated 12 photovoltaic cells which were made of selenium, which would adsorb sunlight and convert it to electricity in order to operate the motor and thus move the car. As it was a miniature car, it was not possible for human use and was much more of a concept, used to demonstrate the possibilities of solar power rather than showing a practical use case for the energy source in relation to vehicles.
Selenium Solar Panels
(Inside): Motor and pulley
Back wheels, attached to pulley. Will move when motor is on to move car forward
After the creation of the initial model in 1955, a variety of other solar-powered vehicles were formed, including:
(Left): Israel Car. (Right): Solar Trike
Although Solar vehicles are not yet a big part of the consumer market, there has been innovation in solar vehicles overall, namely in solar challenges and in the research industries. An example of this is in solar racing and challenges such as the World Solar Challenge, run biannually, where teams aim to create the most efficient solar vehicles and test them through driving them from Darwin to Adelaide.
The World Solar challenge was inspired by the works of Hans Tholstrup and Larry Perkins in 1982, who aimed to build a solar car and drive it across Australia, completing their challenge successfully.
Innovations which have stemmed from the World Solar Challenge include the development of the GM Sunraycer in 1987 (the first year of the race running), which had an average speed of 66.9 km/h, compared to the Israel car which had a maximum speed of around 16km/h only 7 years prior. In 2011, 24th year of the race running, Tokai Challenger car had an average speed of 91.5 km/h.
Solar Powered vehicles fundamentally draw in energy from the sun through the use of solar panels and photovoltaic cells, which is similar to the methods through which solar power is used in other cases, such as generating electricity to power buildings, through rooftop solar panels or solar farms.
Technically speaking, photovoltaic cells work through allowing for photons, or particles of sunlight, to knock and free electrons from being attracted to their respective nuclei, allowing for electron flow, also known as a current. Within each photovoltaic cell, which are then linked together to form solar panels, a magnetic field is created using two layers of silicon in a semiconductor form, both seeded with different elements, phosphorus and boron, so that the silicon will gain and lose electrons respectively, thus creating the two negative and positive charges and fields, with a space, or junction, in between the two fields. When a photon enters the cell, it has the ability to excite the electrons in the cell, allowing for the electron to become loose from the atom it was bound to prior. The magnetic field is used to direct the electron down a set path, creating electricity due to the electron movement and flow.
(Above): Labelled Diagram of A Solar Panel.
N-type material: Negative type material
P-type material: Positive type material
Similarly to how solar power works in other forms, the electricity which is generated from the photovoltaic cell acts as a fuel, powering the motors, batteries and engines of the car, allowing for it to gain energy and move. In the event that a motor in the vehicle uses an Alternating Current (AC) electricity rather than a Direct Current (DC) electricity, which is generated in photovoltaic cells, an device called an inverter is used, which simply inverts the flow of electrons, either from a direct to alternating flow or vise versa. Once the electricity is converted, if needed, it flows toward the motors , powering the parts of the car, thus allowing them to move.
Modern Solar cars additionally incorporate a battery pack or battery cell component, which has the ability to store any excess or unused electricity generated. This electricity which has been stored can then be used by the motors and components of solar cars when the photovoltaic cell is unable to absorb light and photons, which a cell or solar panel is reliant on when starting electron flow and an electric current. Examples of this could be at night or when there is heavy cloud cover, where most light rays will not reach the panel, where the electricity which has been generated prior can then be released from the battery as a backup source of power.
This diagram shows the basic process in which a solar car operates, where a solar panel and the photovoltaic cells absorb light and convert that energy into electrical energy. This electricity is then transported to the battery pack in the vehicle which can store the electricity for later use. The electricity which is to be used then flows to the motors of the cars, which are connected to the wheels, at the most essential level, as wheels are the main moving component of a vehicle, where the power which is powering the motors will result in movement of the motors and wheels, thus allowing for movement in the car overall.
When compared to petroleum, which is used to power traditional vehicles, solar-powered vehicles have a myriad of environmental benefits being a renewable and continuous source of energy when compared to non-renewable fossil fuels, being less harmful to the environment while being similar in terms of overall performance.
Each passenger vehicle releases 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, with every gallon of gasoline used creating 8,887g of Carbon Dioxide
Solar power itself and solar energy systems do not release any pollutants in the production and generation of energy, such as greenhouse gases which are common with other sources of energy such as petrol. This is in comparison to Gasoline, which is toxic and highly flammable, producing many products such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and unburned hydrocarbons (as complete combustion is rarely achieved), as well as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which are all contributors to air pollution at the most fundamental level.
Thus, while solar power does not largely impact upon the environment in terms of polluting the environment, rather being somewhat beneficial as the use of this generation source can detour the use of traditional, more harmful sources of energy, petrol can pollute the atmosphere, leading to decreased air quality, formation of acid rain due to the reaction of nitrogen oxide to form nitric acid, the formation of photochemical smog when nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons combine and the depletion of the atmosphere and especially of the Ozone layer which absorbs Ultraviolet rays from the sun, caused by the breakdown of the layer by Hydrocarbons.
Therefore, in terms of pollutants alone, solar power is much more beneficial toward the environment than petrol, as it does not release a large amount of harmful by-product into the environment.
In 2001, 50% of Nitrogen Oxide pollution in the UK and 73% of Carbon Monoxide pollution was from transport vehicles, where petrol is the most common energy source.
One of the biggest differences in terms of environmental Impacts between solar power and petrol include the impacts on Global Warming or Climate Change. While Solar power does not have any impact on the climate, as it does not release any by-products in generating energy, petrol can release a large proportion of carbon dioxide (an average of 4.6 metric tonnes per vehicle per year.
As Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas, being a gas that traps heat from the sun within the atmosphere, the higher the proportion of the gas which is released into the atmosphere, the higher the amount of heat which is trapped will become. This would accelerate the increase in the world's average global temperature, leading to many adverse environmental impacts including the melting of polar ice caps, rising sea levels, rising ocean temperatures, flooding and the increase in severe weather events as well as their severity. Another major environmental impact which is the result of these drastic changes in the environment include the impacts on native wildlife, such as polar wildlife, marine wildlife and coastal wildlife, as their habitats and ecosystems would be dramatically changed as a result of climate change. This can then lead to extinction and the loss of biodiversity in these environments.
Therefore, solar energy is drastically more environmentally sustainable over petrol as the energy source does not pose as major risks over petrol, which can pose clear and obvious environmental harm.
(Above): The trend between Carbon Dioxide Emissions, in which petroleum vehicles play a significant part, and the rising temperature. As CO2 emissions increase, temperature also rises
(Above): Oil Spill in 2010 off the coast of Louisiana
One area in which Solar power does impact negatively upon the environment is during the creation and manufacturing of the panel, where there is a certain carbon footprint and amount of emissions which are released, such as during the mining process for material such as silicon and lithium which are used to create solar cells and batteries respectively. In addition, potentially environmentally toxic materials and chemicals are used in the production of photovoltaic cells. which can pollute waterways and the surrounding environment where the cells are produced to impact upon the health of the environment and the wildlife which lives within it.
However, the extraction of petroleum poses similar, if not worse impacts, the larger scale of extraction as well as the methods used in extracting crude oil such as hydraulic fracturing which can release harmful chemicals and large amounts of waste water, arguably posing a larger risk to the environment. In addition, the increased risk of large-scale accidents such as oil spills, which can lead to widespread and uncontrollable marine and land damage depending on whether the oil rig is on or offshore, is another environmental impact which can be more detrimental than the environmental impacts which are faced during the production of solar cells.
Therefore, although solar power can pose some environmental threat, their small-scale nature in comparison to that during the production of oil still makes the source of energy more environmentally sustainable.
Advantages of Solar Vehicles include:
Disadvantages of Solar Vehicles Include:
When Solar is compared to Oil, Solar power is superior in terms of its environmental sustainability and technological innovation, as the new form of energy is constantly being researched and improved upon in comparison to oil, which is a traditional form of energy which, while still is being used in the majority of vehicles and being a dominant energy form, is slowly being phased out or disfavored when compared to Solar power. An example of this innovation includes the constant improvements in efficiency, where a University of NSW group managed to create a solar vehicle running at 34.5% efficiency in 2016.
However, Oil is still the most widely used form of fuel for vehicles, even in the present day with the introduction of many alternative fuels and energy sources, due to their wide accessibility, especially for consumers, and their lower costs as of the present, as new emerging technologies are often more expensive than existing, traditional options.
In 2019, 91% of surveyed vehicles sold were internal combustion vehicles, with only 9% being electronic vehicles, where solar vehicles are a fraction as solar vehicles are considered electronic since the panels generate electricity.
(Above): Hybrid car, with both electric and traditional, fuel components
When comparing Solar and Hybrid vehicles, Solar vehicles are superior in terms of their true innovations and environmental sustainability, being fully electric and incorporating an entirely new component to the vehicle, being the photovoltaic panel, which has not been seen in the widespread consumer market as of the present apart from in semi-solar vehicles such as the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, which incorporates a solar panel for a percentage of its total energy generation. This is in comparison to traditional hybrid vehicles with no solar components, which combine the use of petrol and a battery to generate power, thus not being a true innovation but rather a compromised vehicle, which still is ultimately reliant on petrol and environmentally unsustainable sources of energy despite being promoted as an environmentally viable option.
However, Hybrid vehicles, being vehicles which do have a petrol and battery component combined, have the upper hand over solar vehicles in terms of its availability to everyday consumers, as solar cars are not yet on the regular consumer market. Hybrid cars additionally have more finalized and developed technologies, as the category of vehicle has much ore experimentation, while also being a smaller jump from traditional vehicles, thus being an easier transition. Therefore, economically, Hybrid vehicles are also more viable, as the technologies and innovations of this type of vehicle is much more widespread and thus cheaper to purchase from the consumer's perspective, whereas any vehicles with solar components either are not on the market or are selling for high prices, due to the new nature of solar technology.
(Above): Concept Solar Car Light Year one. Priced at estimated $170,000
Solar Cars are a newly emerging form of alternative energy for vehicles, although it has already been applied for a range of other purposes such as building electricity.
Although still in the developing, the Solar Car industry has already made breakthroughs in terms of efficiency, design and method of incorporating the energy source into the vehicle, thus becoming a viable competitor for both traditional fuels including petrol but also other alternative energy sources which are currently on the market, such as hybrid vehicles.
In conclusion, Solar-powered vehicles still need to undergo development and experimentation in order to become a truly viable solution, as in its current state, it is still a largely impractical solution, facing some major problems which would fundamentally change the driving and transportation experience negatively.
With the proper funding and awareness as to the benefits of Solar energy in vehicles, as the use of solar energy in other industries such as the household electricity industry has already largely been normalized through government incentives and widespread campaigns, it will be viable to have solar become a genuine competitor and option in terms of vehicle power.
In the event that solar power does become normalized in the vehicle industry, the environmental benefits, coupled with the ever-decreasing cost of purchase and ease of access would make solar energy one of the best and balanced energy sources, as it would be able to compete or outperform the major energy sources which are dominating the industry currently, mainly being oil, because of its economic and social benefits.
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