New Solar Electric Vehicle to race across Australia
The new car has been dubbed "Eleanor", and due to the fact that it stands much higher than previous models, the driver can now enjoy a much more comfortable drive. The extra height has made it possible for the driver to sit much more upright and comfortable than before. The new vehicle has thirty-percent more frontal area, but amazingly enough, it still has exactly the same drag as the previous one. This means that wind resistance against the car's surface is still the same. The team were able to keep the drag this low by employing sophisticated aerodynamic design and wind-tunnel testing.
The car employs six square meters of monocrystalline silicon solar cells. It also boasts some very sophisticated electronic systems and designs. It is reported that the car is able to function throughout the day on a sunny day, at a consistent cruising speed of 55 mph.
Equipped with wireless links, every aspect of the car's electrical performance could be monitored in real time. When fully charged, the vehicle has enough energy to be able to drive the car all the way from Boston to New York City - without sunlight.
In October 2009, the Solar Electric Vehicle will compete in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia. The team plans to drive the car across the United States in order to prepare for the race. About twelve team members will be going to Australia for the race and four will have the honor to drive the vehicle in the competition. It is estimated that more energy from the sun hits the Earth in one hour, than all the energy consumed on our planet in an entire year. When one considers this statistic, we now see why more and more emphasis is being placed on trying to make this technology work efficiently.
Solar cell technology has been around for ages, and it seems the biggest challenge in developing the technology into a high-yielding source of energy, is how to effectively capture and convert the sun's energy into stored energy. Hopefully, as this technology advances, we may eventually see this wonderful, free source of energy develop into a sustainable power source for the world's energy needs.
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