Solar Electric

Advantages and drawbacks:

The advantages of SPV’s

• Because an SPV has few moving parts, service requirements are less than for conventional cars.
• Since there is no internal combustion engine and no combustion takes place, there are no emissions.
• Electric vehicles are very quiet. Noise comes only from the electric motors.
• Because SPV energy is 100% solar derived, no refueling, in a generic sense, is required. SPV’s rely on solar power, and the only requirement is that they must be operated in sunshine.
• Added emissions are not produced by power plants, since SPV's do not rely on utility-generated electricity.
• Efficient vehicles have traveled a mile on less energy than a 100-watt light bulb consumes in one hour. (For a gasoline-powered car to achieve comparable efficiency, it would need to get 500 miles per gallon.)

The drawbacks of SPV’s include:

• Although solar energy is an unlimited resource, it is not always available when it’s needed—the sun must be shining.
• SPV's that have a built-on PV array differ from conventional vehicles (and most electric vehicles) in size, weight, and shape. The car must be efficiently designed. Lightweight structural materials, such as aluminum or lightweight composites, and low friction components improve performance. They are usually built to carry very little – only one or two people.
• Some SPV’s use no batteries; others use lightweight silver-zinc batteries. These batteries are expensive and need to be recycled after only a few charging cycles. Nickel-metal-hydride batteries may last up to 100,000 miles, but significantly increase the weight of the vehicle. (Lithium ion battery use is possible, but very expensive.)
• A large amount of surface area is needed on the car to be used solely for solar power PV cells. State-of-the-art PV cells are only about 20 percent efficient.
• The primary safety concern with the development of a prototype vehicle, or vehicle altered by hobbyists – as the majority of SPVs are – is that of design and an ability to adequately test the vehicle. If meant for road use, the final design must be road worthy. Proper attention must be paid to all aspects of vehicle design, including steering, suspension, breaks, protection for the driver, proper seatbelts and seating, properly secured motors and batteries, and adequate chassis strength and durability. All prototypes and modified vehicles must be properly tested before operating on-road.
• As with all electric vehicles, lethal levels of electricity may be present in the battery pack, so it should be treated with caution and respect.