What's New?
2022-10-23 See all the details of our solar car charger on hackaday.io
2022-10-19 Our solar charger project advanced to finals in the 2022 Hackaday Prize Challege 5: Save the World Wildcard
GitHub account back online.
2021-10-26: GitHub has flagged our account. We are working on it. In the mean time, you can download the Engineering Support Package here.
2021-10-11: We set up a GitHub for our software and PCB documentation.
2021-09-05: We are now accepting orders. Order Form At this point in time, only the bravest and most experienced hobbyists should buy. You will have to make your own connections to your vehicle's high voltage battery. We are revising the firmware on a weekly basis, so most likely you will need to update it. And you will need to manually turn on the converter in the morning.
2021-09-03: Subscribe to our Telegram Channel for memes and quick updates about our converter board.
2020-03-02: Solar charging will now happen most days! New website released, includes live stats. See how much energy is generated daily.
2019-12-03: Find out more about our project on our YouTube Channel
Why build a solar powered car?
The area of solar panels needed to power the average American's vehicle (if it were electric) is barely larger than its parking spot.
Putting solar panels directly on the vehicle has many benefits:
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Leapfrogs the need for EV charging infrastructure. The ideal long term plan is to have EVs plugged into the grid and charging from solar energy during the day. Installing charging stations can be quite expensive for workplaces and then there is the cost of electricity.
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Avoids the need for energy storage. Solar energy is rapidly becoming one of the cheapest sources of energy available, but storage of renewable energy is still a problem. Electric vehicles must store the energy anyway so charging the vehicle battery directly eliminates the need for an additional powerwall type battery.
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Extends the life of batteries. The solar energy collected can increase the number of miles driven per day. It can also extend the lifespan of batteries by reducing the depth of discharge. The lead-acid 12v battery will benefit greatly from daily solar charging.
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Mobile power source. Use your solar car as a massive solar generator for camping, at jobsites, or at home.
A solar car is a great way for someone without home charging to drive electric. It would be very inconvenient to rely on public charging for all of the energy required. But if half or more of the energy can be collected by the vehicle itself it becomes more practical. Our calculations show that is reasonable. Real Solar Cars, LLC is based in super sunny New Mexico.