DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLAR POWERED CAR

Project Abstract

This project work is on the development of a solar powered car. It involves the design and fabrication of a solar powered car with a carrying capacity of two individuals and a maximum speed of 30 km/hr, which runs entirely on a stand-alone solar system. The car is a unique prototype sedan car. It is design with dimensions of 3 meters’ x 1.6 meters. The maximum load carrying capacity of the vehicle is 700 kg and it requires a driving force of about 4.3 kW. The solar car uses a clean engine made up of direct current brushed motor rated at 13 kW output power and sourcing its required power from the stand-alone system. Cars running on fossil fuel do not only contribute to global warming and pollution, but they also have high running and maintenance cost, due to these challenges, the project seeks to alleviate these problems by adopting the use of alternative renewable source of energy for land transportation.<strong>KEYWORDS</strong>&nbsp;Batteries, DC Motor, Energy, PV, Solar Car, Weight.NB This Project won the best award at National Student Project Exhibition organized by the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE) at her 28th International Conference, Abuja <br>

Project Overview

<h3>Introduction</h3><p><br></p><h3>The earth continues its increase in human population, with projections from the United Nations estimating an addition of 2.6 billion people to the planet. This statistic poses a greater demand on our already depleting traditional energy reserves. The automotive industry is one of the largest dependants of traditional energy source. Most of its technologies are built to run on fossil fuels which is unsustainable and hazardous to the environment. The considerable risk it poses to society has necessitated the automotive industries to also seek for alternatives, thus probing researches into renewable energy technology. Solar energy is a product of the sun’s radiation through brilliant light and heat. It is a perfect energy gotten from the sun. Innovations like, photovoltaic, solar heating, solar thermal and counterfeit photosynthesis have made feasible the sapping of the energy from the sun. These systems are usually referred to either active or passive technology depending upon the capturing and circulation mode. Active technology includes the utilization of photovoltaic, this is the most favoured amongst other technology because of its efficiency. The force of the sun is being outfitted to turn the wheels of the vehicle utilizing sunlight based cells (photovoltaic). Revealing this utilization of solar energy and numerous different applications, Tarik, Srea, Monzurul, and Khairul in 2012 stated that PV generation (a dynamic system of harnessing the sun’s energy) turn out to be twofold at regular intervals, expanding by a normal of 48 percent every year since 2002. Solar energy has been the most effective source for fuelling electric vehicles in contrast with other renewable energy source. This energy is harnessed and utilized specifically in form of electrical energy to power car. Md. and Md. in 2012 described a solar powered car as a type of electric car controlled by this sun based power. The energy is acquired from PVs frequently situated at the rooftop or surface of the car. The PV cells complete the energy transformation of the sun to an electrical energy. Solar powered car comprises of solar panel, charge controller, battery and engine(motor). Dissimilar to fossil fuelled car, their engine has no emanation and can either be Alternating current (AC) or Direct current (DC) engine. Solar powered cars are yet to be commercialized in vast volumes. Nations like Germany, US, China and India are working towards its commercialization. Presently, they are fundamentally utilized as sport cars and for practical demonstrations or exhibitions.Sun exclusively relies on PV cells to transform Sun rays into power. PVs are product of semiconducting materials usually silicon. Silicon is refined, handled and encased in a treated glass for security purposes. The application of PV technology in the automotive industries has greatly contributed to the recent research feet gained in green technology. As more attention will be lavished on reducing the severe hazards accompanying green house emissions, research in this area will not cease. Nigeria has taken a foothold in this participation. Therefore, the need to develop her model of transportation utilizing renewable energy becomes imperative. The advent of solar cars has not only provided the automobile industries a clean energy, but an efficient and cost effective technology and this project will focus on building one using locally available components and materials.<br>II. OBJECTIVE<br>To design and develop a prototype solar powered car which will be clean, reliable, economical and environmental friendly. The car is design in a scale of around 3 meters’ length x 1.6 meters’ width and would only carry two people alongside it accessories which include batteries, DC motor, charge controllers and PV array. It uses cascaded batteries of 48 V and 150 Amps hour total rating, and a motor controller to vary the speed, the batteries receive charges from 3 pieces of PV panel each of 180 W (540 power wattage). The chassis of the car are fabricated using local content materials to cut expenses and easily control the weight. <br></h3>