Solar Power Energy Generation Guide
Solar Powered Cars Are The Cars Of Tomorrow
By J K Hellios
Solar powered cars are becoming more commonplace. There
are solar car challenges all around the world including
the USA and Australia.
The aim of solar car challenges is to improve the solar
cars of today and make them as powerful and reliable
as the mainstream cars of today.
A lot of these cars are experimental, but as research
keeps improving the power and quality of solar powered
cars, more of these cars will become available on the
mainstream car market.
As oil reserves dwindle over the next 20 years, more
cars running on alternative energy sources will become
available. These cars will be able to compete and provide
the amount of power and reliability of the current cars
of today. A lot of solar powered cars will be greener
and designed to emit less pollution than current mainstream
cars.
Winston Solar Car Team
The Winston Solar Car Team began an education program
in 1993. They provide learning materials, on-site visits,
and workshops for high schools across the country. The
program is designed to motivate students in the areas
of science, engineering, and technology.
The program consists of a two year education program.
At the end of the program students have the opportunity
to display their work.
Winston Solar Car Challenge
The first Winston Solar Car Challenge took place in
1995. Ninety schools participated in the program with
nine schools building cars to race. The 1997 challenge
involved three hundred and fifty schools in five countries.
Eight cars qualified to run in a six hundred mile race
from Dallas, Texas to San Antonio, Texas. As the participants
continue to grow, so does the challenge. The 1999 race
was a sixteen hundred mile race. In 2002 Dell Computers
became a sponsor of the event.
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Students are aware that using fossil fuels for cars
has a negative impact on the environment. Students investigate
the amount of pollution a car creates.
Students have the opportunity to work together with
their research and other students to investigate how
to use solar energy for cars. They research the challenges
involved and work to find solutions.
Panasonic World Solar Challenge
For the past 20 years, Panasonic has offered the Panasonic
World Solar Challenge. More than three hundred teams
from around the world have brought their car to the
event. Many find developing solar powered cars to be
the challenge of a lifetime.
They continue to find ways to get one step closer to
being successful. The next Panasonic event takes place
in October of 2007.
Current Challenges
Solar powered cars still have many bugs to work out
including how to keep them operating on a daily basis,
day or night. New designs continue to emerge, and the
challenge of solving this mystery continues to grow
around the world.
Regardless of who successfully completes the concept
of solar powered cars, it will offer a safe alternative
to using fossil fuels, and that will be a benefit to
each of us.
There are location in big cities where pollution levels
from cars can reach rather high levels, especially in
heavily populated areas like Los Angeles.
A girl from our school went as an exchange student
to a school in Los Angeles, and she said a number of
times the students were sent home early because of the
high pollution levels. Some of the students were affected
so much by the pollution, they had tears in their eyes.
If there are more solar powered cars on the road, then
there should be a corresponding decrease in the level
of pollution, especially in heavily populated areas
of our large cities. A lot of the pollution in the air
comes from our cars, some of it comes from factories.
There is research going on at the moment to improve
solar power energy generation to run our factories,
home and cars. One day in the near future, a lot of
these polluting energy sources will be replaced by less
polluting sources like solar power.
As research on solar energy systems improves to such
a high level that our motorways will be full of solar
powered cars.
About the Author:
J K Hellios has written a number of articles on solar
power and renewable energy including Solar
Panels, Homes and
Solar Power.
Keep a lookout for more articles coming soon on this
website.
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