Research on Solar Car

The United States passed and enforced emission laws in the 1990s. This led to many colleges and universities searching for the possibility of powering cars through solar energy. Solar collectors were initially too big to be put into vehicles. Research and further development however have made it more plausible for vehicles to be run by solar energy.

Many organizations are working to make solar-powered vehicles a reality with concerted effort to make research and development more advanced. This has led to more skeptics believing that vehicles will soon be powered by solar energy.

There have been apprehensions on the continued use of fossil fuels on cars particularly on the negative effects on the environment. Researchers have attributed the worsening condition of the air on the continued use of fossil based fuel on vehicles. This has also led to many researchers focusing on the development of solar powered cars.

In the past two decades, electronics firm Panasonic has put up its World Solar Challenge. Participants numbering to 300 teams culled from across the globe bring their cars to the said event. The purpose is to encourage the research and development of solar powered cars and make it closer to becoming a reality. The next event takes place sometime in October 2007.

In 1993, Winston's Solar Car squad conducted an education project, providing learning materials, workshops, and on-site visits for high school pupils in the country. The said program was designed to encourage and motivate students in areas of engineering, science, and technology. The said program consisted of a two year plan, where at the conclusion of the term, students get the chance to display their works.

Two years later, the first solar car challenge was conducted. Ninety schools took part in the program, including 9 schools putting up cars to race. In 1997 the challenged included 350 schools from five countries. There were 8 cars that qualified to run the race, beginning from Dallas and ending in San Antonio, Texas. With the growth in the number of participants, so did the challenge gained popularity. In 1999, the race became a 600 mile race.

There are many bugs to look into the development of solar powered cars. One of the main concerns is to keep the cars operating daily, day in and day out.

New designs have emerged, and the task of making cars run on solar power continues to challenge researchers.