Review Paper on

Solar Powered Electric Vehicle

Abhishek Tiwari, UG, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Bhilai Institute of Technology, Durg(CG), India

INTRODUCTION
The rise in the price of oil and pollution issues has increased the interest on the development of electric
vehicles. This paper discusses about the application of solar energy to power up the vehicle. In order
to achieve the required voltage, the Photo Voltaic (PV) Module may be connected either in parallel or
series, but its costlier. Thus to make it cost effective,power converters and batteries are been used. The
electrical charge is consolidated from the PV panel and directed to the output terminals to produce low
voltage (Direct Current). The charge controllers direct this power acquired from the solar panel to the
batteries. According to the state of the battery, the charging is done, so as to avoid overcharging and
deep discharge. The voltage is then boosted up using the boost power converter, ultimately running the
BLDC motor which is used as the drive motor for our vehicle application. In the course work, the
characteristic features of the components: solar panel, charge controller, battery, power converter and
BLDC motor required for the vehicle application were studied in real time and also were modelled
individually and the complete hardware integration of the system is tested to meet up the application’s
requirement. This paper also surveys the history and future of solar and electric vehicles and provides
an overview of a typical solar car.

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR VEHICLE

In 1955, William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corp. (GM) demonstrates his 15 inch long "Sun-mobile",
world‘s first ever solar-powered automobile at the General Motors Powerama Auto show held in
Chicago, Illinois. Cobb's Sunmobile introduced the field of Photovoltaics -the process by which the sun's
rays are converted into electricity when exposed to certain surfaces. When sunlight hit 12 photoelectric
cells made of selenium (a non-metal substance with conducting properties) built into the Sunmobile, an
electric current was produced which in turn powered an electric motor. The motor turned the vehicle's
driveshaft which was connected to its rear axle by a pulley.

Fig. 1 Sun-mobile (source: researchget.net)

In 1962, the first solar car that a person could drive was demonstrated to the public. The International
Rectifier Company converted a vintage model 1912 Baker electric car to run on photovoltaic energy in
1958, but they didn't show it until 4 years later. Around 10,640 individual solar cells were mounted to
the rooftop of the Baker to help propel it.

Fig. 2 vintage model 1912 Baker electric car (source: driveelectricvt.com)

In 1977, Prof. Ed Passereni of Alabama University built the Bluebird solar car, which was a prototype
full scale vehicle. The Bluebird was supposed to move from power created by the photovoltaic cells
only without the use of a battery. The Bluebird was exhibited in the Knoxville, TN 1982 World's Fair.

Fig. 3 Bluebird solar car (source: speedace.info)

In 1979, Englishman Alain Freeman invented a solar car. His road registered the same vehicle in 1980.
The Freeman solar car was a 3-wheeler with a solar panel on the roof.

Fig. 4 Freeman solar car (source: researchget.net)

2
At Tel Aviv University in Israel, Arye Braunstein and his colleagues created a solar car in 1980. The
solar car had a solar panel on the hood and on the roof. The Citicar comprised of 432 cells creating 400
watts of peak power. The solar car used 8 batteries of 6 volts each to store the photovoltaic energy.
The 1320 pounds solar Citicar is said by the engineering department to have been able to reach up to
40 mph with a maximum range of 50 miles.

Fig. 5 Citicar

In 1981, Hans Tholstrup and Larry Perkins built a solar powered race car. In 1982, the pair became the
first to cross a continent in a solar car, from Perth to Sydney, Australia. It waspowered by 8½ square
metres of solar cells and could store surplus solar energy in two 12V lead-acid batteries for later use.
The electric motor could be fed either 12V or 24V, giving some measure of speed control. The car had
four gear ratios which could only be changed when the vehicle had stopped. Thirty years ago, things
like high -efficiency solar cells, MPPTs, in-wheel-motors, PWM speed controllers and wireless telemetry
were still very much in the future but even with this basic setup they made it. The suspension less
vehicle bumped its way across the Australian continent on bicycle tyres in twenty days which was ten
days faster than the first fossil-powered vehicle to travel that same route.

Fig. 6 Solar powered race car (source: alizulz.blogspot.com)

In 1984, Greg Johanson and Joel Davidson invented the Sunrunner solar race car. The Sunrunner set
the official Guinness world record in Bellflower, California of 24.7 mph. In the Mojave Desert of California
and final top speed of 41 mph was officially recorded for a "Solely Solar Powered Vehicle" (did not use
a battery). The 1986 Guinness Book of World Records publicized these official records.

3
 Fig. 7 Sunrunner solar race car (source: solarsolar.com)

The GM Sunraycer in 1987 completed a 1,866 mile trip with an average speed of 42 mph. Since this
time there have been many solar cars invented at universities for competitions such as the Shell Eco
Marathon. GM Sunraycer was 19.7 feet long, 6.6 feet wide and 3.3 feet high. It weighs 390 pounds and
had gross weight of 573 pounds with driver. Average speed of 41.6 mph during 44.9 driving hours over
1950-miles race. It's was made of aluminium tube space-frame chassis with body of composite
sandwich material. It contains solar array of about 90 square-feet to power 3 KW, 4 HP magnequench
brushless DC-Motor.

Fig. 8 The GM Sunraycer (source: evworld.com)

There is also a commercially available solar car called the Venturi Astrolab. Time will only tell how far
the solar car makes it with today's and tomorrow's technology.Today, more than a half-century after
Cobb debuted the Sun-mobile, a mass-produced solar car has yet to hit the market anywhere in the
world. Solar-car competitions are held worldwide; however, in which design teams pit their sun-

Fig. 9 Venturi Astrolab (source: motorauthority.com)

4
powered creations (also known as photovoltaic or PV cars) against each other in road races such as
the 2008 North American Solar Challenge, a 2,400-mile drive from Dallas, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, ISIE ESVC India etc.

WORKING

After giving an overview of the cars which are already in use, here is a detailed description of our solar
powered vehicle. It is a four wheeler , two seater vehicle. In this vehicle we have used a belt pulley
mechanism. The solar energy is harnessed using solar panels which are used for charging the batteries.
The batteries run the motor which drives the wheel of the vehicle. The vehicle which we have made as
our project uses a belt pulley mechanism in which the shaft of the motor is connected

Fig. 10 Working Sketch of Solar Car (source: cartrade.com)

through the belt pulley system. The power supplied to the batteries is from the solar panels which are
giving a total output of 4ooW and they are then used for charging the batteries. The batteries which we
are using are lead acid batteries which are of 48V rating each of 12V. The motor’s rating is of 48V which
gets charged through the four 12V batteries. The belt used in our project is a timing belt which has teeth
that fit into a matching toothed pulley. When correctly tensioned, they have no slippage, run at constant
speed, and are often used to transfer direct motion for indexingor timing purposes. They are often used
in lieu of chains or gears, so there is less noise and a lubrication bath is not necessary. Timing belts
need the least tension of all belts, and are among the most efficient. We have laid emphasis on the
economical part so that it can be used to cover short distances without consuming energy from external
sources and at the same time keep the environment pollution free.

BASIC FUNCTIONAL DIAGRAM

Block diagram shows the baic function of whole system.

5
 Fig. 11 Block Diagram of System (source: slideshare.net)

RECENT TRENDS AND FUTURE ASPECTS

Solar Powered Electric vehicles (SPEVs) are slowly but surely gaining
momentum in the energy industry, offering low or zero-carbon transport
that industry members say will populate our roads in only a few years. Solar
powered vehicles are of two types: electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles. An
electric vehicles contains electric motors and store energy in rechargeable
batteries. Solar electric vehicles charge their batteries through solar energy.
Hybrid vehicles contains two type of power: the internal combustion engine
present generally in vehicles and electric motors to power the vehicle
electrically.

By type, the market is segmented into electric vehicles and hybrid electric
vehicles. By vehicle type, the market is segmented into passenger vehicles,
commercial vehicles and sports vehicles.
By geography, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia
Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America. Asia Pacific is a major solar
powered car market. In Asia Pacific, China is anticipated to be a significant
solar powered vehicle market. Other than China, the major markets are
Japan, South Korea and India. In India, the government has taken a major
initiative to introduce 5 million electric vehicles by 2020 and they will be solar
powered. China has entered the Indian solar powered vehicle market due to
the huge potential of the India solar and electric vehicle market. All this is
anticipated to increase the adoption of solar powered vehicles in India. One
major reason for increasing demand for solar powered vehicles in China and
India is that both countries receive on an average 300 days of sunlight. North
America is a major solar powered car market. The U.S is a significant solar
6
powered car market in North America. Other major markets in the region are
Canada and Mexico. Europe is another major solar powered car market.
Germany is the largest solar powered car market in Europe. Other major
solar powered markets in Europe are the U.K, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium
and Netherlands. In Middle East & Africa, the significant solar powered cars
markets are Iran and South Africa. In Latin America, the major solar powered
car markets are Brazil and Argentina.

CONCLUSION

The solar vehicle solves many problems related to the environment and is the best pollution free
method. We need to make use of them so that we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Solar
vehicles do have some disadvantages like small speed range, initial cost is high. Also, the rate of
conversion of energy is not satisfactory (only 17%). But these disadvantages can be easily overcome
by conducting further research in this area; like the problem of solar cells can be solved by using the
ultra efficient solar cells that give about 30-35% efficiency. As this field of automobiles will be explored
the problems willget solved. The solar automobiles have a huge prospective market and we should start
using them in our day to day life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my profound gratitude to Mr. Shashank Tiwari, Ex GM Employee for sharing
their pearls of wisdom with me. I am also immensely grateful to my seniors and faculty member of my
college BIT Durg for their comments on an earlier version of the manuscript that greatly improved the
manuscript, although any error are my own and should not tarnish the reputations of these esteemed
persons.

REFERENCES

[1] Rizzo, G. (2010), Automotive Applications of Solar Energy, IFAC Symposium Advances in
Automotive Control, July 12 - 14 2010, Munich, Germany.

[2] Arsie I, Rizzo G, Sorrentino M “A Model for the Optimal Design of a Hybrid Solar Vehicle”, Review
of Automotive Engineering, Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan (JSAE), 2008, ISSN 1349-4724.
29-3: 439-447

[3] John Connor “solar vehicles and benefits of the technology”, ICCEP paper 2007

[4] M. W. Daniels and P. R. Kumar, “The optimal use of the solar power Automobile,” Control Systems
Magazine, IEEE, vol. 19, no. 3, 2005.

[5] Yogesh Sunil Wamborikar, Abhay Sinha “Solar powered vehicle”, WCECES Paper 2010.

[6] Rule Book of ISIE Electric Solar Vehicle Championship 2014-15.

7
8