Solar Powered Cars

Solar powered cars just might be the future for every car on the road. Imagine if Mad Max lived in an age of solar cars, he wouldn't have had to fight all those bad guys for a tank of juice! The Geek nerds out over sci-fi too...

As for present day, solar cars are made for research, primarily in international solar car races. They work with solar cells, the same way a house with solar panels does. The PV cells are placed on top of the car (the roof, hood, or trunk), they collect the sun's energy, convert it to electricity, and store it into batteries. Different kinds of batteries are being experimented with, some of those kinds are: lead-acid, nickel-metal hydride, Nickel-Cadmium, Lithium ion, and Lithium polymer. Most of cars look very futuristic in design and have only space for one person - the driver.

The practical application is fitting electric cars with solar panels to charge your car while it sits in the sun in the parking lot while you shop. The next wave of hybrid cars are currently being fitted with this capability, due out in 2010.

In December 2008 the Solar Taxi solar car set a record, traveling around the world, a distance of 32,000 miles and 40 countries. On March 6th, 2009 the Power Of One car beat the record with 125,000 miles from Buffalo, NY to Alaska then down to Los Angeles. That's so awesome the Geek's head just imploded.

Have some fun and let the Geek show you how to build you own solar powered toy car or convert your favorite radio controlled one to a solar powered one!

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