Solar vehicle

Solar vehicles are vehicles that derive their operating power directly from solar radiation.

The vast majority of vehicles does so by means of photovoltaic solar, that is they are equipped on the surface with solar cells that convert the sun's energy into electrical power in the vehicle. As electric cars they also often lead an energy storage device (usually batteries ) with you in order to remain roadworthy, at least for a limited time even in low light or cloudy weather.

Electric vehicles that derive their electrical power exclusively from a stationary photovoltaic system and there to recharge their energy storage are not counted to the solar vehicles, even if the energy they invite was won purely solar. These vehicles are considered electric cars in the network.

• 2.1 Spree shuttle
• 2.2 MobiCat
• 2.3 Solarschiff
• 2.4 Weser ships
• 2.5 Sun21
• 2.6 Solon
• 2.7 Solgenia
• 2.8 Solarwave
• 2.9 Tûranor PlanetSolar
• 2:10 Solaaris

• 3.1 Solar Airplanes
• 3.2 Solar airships

• 7.1 Solar Mobility
• 7.2 Solar Boats

Solar land vehicles

Solar cars (road vehicles)

In principle, differ ( street legal ) between pure solar racing vehicles and also alltagstauglicheren solar cars.

Solar racing cars

With optimum sunlight, the high-performance solar cells of the experimental vehicles up to 2.25 kW ( Nuna2 NL) can provide electric power (compare car approx 35-200 kW). Solar racing vehicles are test vehicles for fuel-efficient cars and lightweight. More solar racing vehicles, see List of solar racing vehicles

Solar cars ( street legal )

The solar taxi circled in 18 months as the first solar - powered electric car the world. Louis Palmer was from 2007 to 2008 on the road and laid back than 50,000 kilometers. First solar autonomous vehicle SolarWorld GT circled the world between 2011 and 2012. More solar cars see list of solar cars street legal

Solar races and rallies

Several organizations hold regular world race with solar vehicles.

The first solar rally was the Tour de Sol 1985. The event was mainly performed each year in Switzerland until 1993.

The highlight of the race across applies to Australia, the World Solar Challenge, the first three, now held every two years since 1987. The leaders reached at a distance of about 3,000 km Total average speeds of over 100 km / h ( as of 2005); it was only during the day and drove the rest of the time not counted. The Weglängenrekord of 830 km in one day delivered the Dutch solar car Nuna II in October 2003. 1993 also took the unmanned solar airship lotte2 part in the rally.

The vehicles need to 100 km at 300 kg Weight only 0.17 gallons of gasoline equivalent. This is the most important feature of these solar cars, the speed is limited by the maximum speed limit on public roads. On 25 September 2005 launched in Darwin, Australia, the 7th World Solar Challenge, which resulted in the team NUON with the solar car NUNA III won for the third time, but with more than 102 km / h for the first time the " magic limit " of 100 km / h average speed was exceeded.

The North American Solar Challenge is a similar race, which also takes place every two years.

Other major international competitions are:

• American Solar Challenge - USA
• World Solar Car Rally - Japan
• SunRace - Australia
• Canadian Solar Discovery Challenge - Canada
• Dream Cup Solar Car Race Suzuka - Japan
• Solar Car Race Phaeton Hellas - Greece
• South African Solar Challenge - South Africa

The Sky Ace TIGA, a solar vehicle of Ashiya University, Japan, holds the land speed record for solar vehicles. In 2005 it reached in Greece 150 km / h, on 19 September 2006 in Taiwan 165 km / h

Solar bicycles

• The Englishman Alan Freeman built in 1976 small solar vehicles, and in 1978 a solar boat. In 1982 he built a solar tricycle and then its solar cycle, a two-wheeled solar Sitzrad without pedals. Street -grade Solar bicycles were used in 1985 and in the following years in the Tour de Sol. The solar panels were on a roof, a trailer, or mounted to the side and were powerful enough to drive the bike quite quickly with or without pedaling. Today, these wheels are hardly used.
• Since 2010, Albert van Dalen builds a solar cycle. The goal of this project is to build a solar powered bike that receives at sunny summer day enough solar energy to allow longer distances and drive by hills with sufficient support.

Solar orbits

Solar boats

Photovoltaics is also used in boats. Thanks to its excellent efficiency over a wide range of electric energy consumption the engine is technically superior. The driving power is usually in the range of a few hundred watts up to several kilowatts. Unlike solar electric boats boats use the direct solar radiation as an energy source. As the buffer usually used accumulators. Thus, theoretically, they have - like a sailboat - an unlimited range. Unlike sail boats, they are especially for driving on canals and rivers. A combination with wall chargers and inverters can be useful. In this concept, the boat is connected to the network at the berth. The battery is charged until it is full, and then the energy of the solar generator is fed into the grid. Most so -equipped solar power a more boats than they consume. For larger distances on open seas or oceans but mostly additional drives, such as sailing, wind or diesel generators are required. The latter are useful in cold environments, in order to heat the same. For small boats and muscle power drives have proven themselves instead of diesel generators. Solar drives are due to the low power density not for applications with permanently high power requirement (eg high speeds).

Since about 1985 solar boats are as Reise-/Wohnboote in Europe a theme: 1989 succeeded the Trimaran Basilisk a tour Basel - Koblenz - Trier - Saarbrücken - Strasbourg - Basel, in the winter of 1990/ 1991, a trip from Basel to Denia, Spain ( 2000 km ). By 2006, put Matthias Wegmann with some other experimental boats - combined with Tretantrieben - around 50 000 km. Example: A cabin cruiser (8 × 2.5 m, 2 t) can be electrically at 2 kW with 10 km / h move, a commercially available gasoline needed for 2 l / h At reduced speed, the efficiency difference impressed by more.

Spree shuttle

Solar or solar boats ships are used in everyday life since 1995. On some inland waters (eg Alster / Hamburg, Lake Constance, Spree / Berlin) they are as pleasure boat or ferry go. The " Spree shuttle " (formerly " Gaienhofen " ) increased in the period from June 2000 to October 2003 back 5000 km. In the summer of 2003, the solar boat took only two charges from the mains. In total, more than 4,000 passengers were transported.

MobiCat

MobiCat is an electrically operated passenger catamaran. It derives its motive power from solar energy. The vessel was left in July 2001 from the stack and wrong since on Lake Biel.

Solar ship

Since June 2004, the then largest stainless steel solar catamaran in the world drives on the Neckar River in Heidelberg. The proud " solar boat " called excursion and charter boat weighs 51 tons, with a length of 24.95 m. It offers 80 managed covered seats and 30 additional seats on the outdoor deck. With a service speed of about 14 km / h its reach with charged battery is at least 110 km. It is driven by two three-phase electric motors, each with 25 kW. Only the middle roof is covered with solar cells, in this vehicle, it is thus clear view on the sides and at half the height.

Weser ships

Since April 2006, two solar- electric powered boats are used on the Weser at Hameln and touristy operated very successfully. The continuation of this tourism project in 2008 will take place through new and technically current boot models.

Sun21

Beginning of December 2006 launched the Sun21, a built in Switzerland solar catamaran in Seville to the first transatlantic crossing of a solar boat. After a stopover in the Canary Islands, the boat reached with its 5 crew members on 2 February 2007 the port of Le Marin on Martinique in the Caribbean and on May 8 the target New York. The project initiated Martin Vosseler.

Solon

The Sun21 was the prototype for a solar boat on Berlin's waterways. On August 12, 2009, Solon was baptized by the Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit. The ship type Suncat 58 has a Solon solar generator with 5.6 kWp. The motors of the catamaran have a total of 2 × 8 kW of electrical power. The battery storage is sufficient for 10 hours of operation without sun. Up to 60 people have 58 space on a SunCat. In addition to Solon the same manufacturer also offers small solar boats for up to 12 people and even a luxurious solar yacht.

Solgenia

With photovoltaic hydrogen hybrid technology equipped electric and solar boats use a combination of photovoltaic and fuel cells, the latter operated with hydrogen, which in turn is produced reversible with the help of solar cells. A world's first prototype, the " Solgenia ", is being developed as a research vessel at the University of Konstanz and used since the beginning of 2007 on Lake Constance in practical operation.

Solarwave

The Solar Wave was launched on 17 December 2009 on water, baptized 27 January 2010 and was launched on 7 April 2010 to the first energy - self-sufficient world tour. The solar catamaran is 14 m long and 7.5 m wide and weighs 12 tons. On the roof of the Solar Wave are 57 m² of solar panels, It is powered by 2 x 10 kW electric motors. Unique in the Solar Wave is that besides driving also all navigational, operational and budgetary aggregates, and electrical support vehicles ( dinghy and e-bike ) are powered by solar energy. The project will provide the feasibility of global solar mobility on a family-friendly ocean-going pleasure craft to the test and to encourage imitation. The boat has crossed 2010 on the Rhine, Main and Danube Europe and sail the Black Sea.

Tûranor PlanetSolar

The Tûranor PlanetSolar is a baptized on 31 March 2010 catamaran powered exclusively by solar energy. He was at that time the largest solar energy powered water craft with a length of 31 m and a weight of 84 t. The 240 kW motors powered ship was used for a circumnavigation of the globe. On 27 September 2010 it launched in Monaco, crossed the Panama Canal and reached the end of January 2011, the Galapagos Islands. After nearly 485 days of the solar ship ran again on 4 May 2012 in Monaco, and thus ended his world tour.

Solaaris

The Solaaris is put into operation in April 2, 2012 on the Ostseestaal shipyard in Stralsund made ​​out of aluminum catamaran, which replaces the waterbus decommissioned " Landois " on the Aa in Münster.

The envisaged for 68 passengers ship with about 14 tons of displacement and 0.5 m Draft is 15.64 m long, 4.6 m wide and is powered by two 15 kW electric motors, which consists of two 55 - kWh lithium - ion batteries are supplied.

28 á 185 Wp solar panels on the flat roof should be based around eight daily trips in that. Terraces of Lake Aa / Golden bridge over the feeder open-air museum Mühlenhofin for All-Weather / Natural History Museum and return the batteries

Solar air vehicles

Solar airplanes

Solar airships

Spacecraft

A small but very successful niche have captured solar vehicles in unmanned spacecraft.

Wheeled vehicles to explore the surface of other celestial bodies. So the landers Lunokhod 1 and 2 explored in the early 1970s the moon. The Solar Mobile Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity carried out examinations on Mars. The solar cells supported while the entrained accumulators and invited them back on. The mission of Lunokhod 2 had to be terminated after the cells were covered by dust raised.

The ion engine uses in the design as a solar ion propulsion electrical energy from solar cells to accelerate an ionized gas and to drive with the recoil spacecraft.

Another variant are spacecraft that use the radiation pressure of the sun by means of solar sails like a ship sailing directly. Have been performed in the past several practical experiments in the near-Earth space. First deployed a solar sail in the started on 20 May 2010 Japanese spacecraft IKAROS, which is used for testing this type of drive.