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Everyday you see around thousands of cars passing by. You see big cars, small cars, red cars and blue cars. A car recently revolutionizing the automobile industry is electric vehicles. There are many different car companies who have electric vehicles and they are very popular.

What if we can say there is a better way to help the planet and charge the vehicle. This new way to charge is powered by solar energy. Has I dived deeper into this emerging technology, I realized that solar powered vehicles are not has efficient as they seem to be. Which is why I built asmall model of a hybrid version of a solar powered vehicle. Before we can get to this, let’s learn about how it will work.

If it isn’t obvious from the name, solar-powered cars use solar panels to get power from the sun. They have solar panels mounted on the exterior of the car. The rays from the sun increase movement of the electrons, which powers the car. In the solar panels, there are small cells called photovoltaic (also known as PVC). These are the cells that capture the sun’s energy to fuel the battery in the vehicle.

Let me explain how solar panels fuel the vehicle. The solar panels will be mounted on the exterior of the vehicle. The most common places where the solar panels can be mounted are the roof, hood, trunk, and doors. The photovoltaic cells are usually made with silicon, nitrogen, gallium, and indium. These elements can use the rays of sunshine and speed up the movement of electrons, which will make electricity to power the vehicle.

The produced electricity will be stored in the batteries of the car, which is kept in the back and under the car. These batteries are made of lithium, nickel, and cobalt. If there is an excess of electricity in the vehicle, the excess can be kept for use later.

Each year, 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases are emitted to the earth’s atmosphere. Every 3 liters of gasoline or diesel emits 6 to 9 pounds of greenhouse gases. This is one of the biggest factors affecting climate change and global warming. This problem can be avoided with the help of solar-powered vehicles because they don’t burn fuel and use a renewable source.

7 years and a couple of months is how much time we have to solve the world crisis, climate change. Emissions from gasoline and diesel cars impact this crisis incredibly. With solar powered vehicles, which don’t emit anything, we can reduce the impact and put a dent into this crisis.

Even if solar-powered cars sound amazing, there are many reasons why they aren’t already available to the public. The problems include the design, price, and efficiency.

Design:

Most solar panel cars have to have a huge solar panel on the top of the car to work. In the future, the power of the solar panels will increase and the size will decrease.

Price:

Efficient solar panels cost a pretty penny and need to be replaced often.

Efficiency:

Only 15–30% of the sunshine is being changed into electricity, with the price of solar panels. Due to this problem, companies such as Toyota and Hyundai are working on a hybrid version. In the hybrid version, half will be plug-in electricity and half will be solar energy.

Many cars can be bought, the only problem they don’t run on solar power only. They only power small electronics in the car. Companies such as the Stanford Solar Project, Toyota, Hyundai, and Lightyear are releasing prototypes for projects. These projects will be hybrids and power at least 50 or more % of the car.

Hyundai has created a prototype for the Sonata that solar energy powers 60% of the battery. The whole roof of the car will be a solar panel. From a statement by Hyundai, they said their car will “increase the drivers travel by an extra 1,300 km annually.”

You may be wondering I have a perfectly good car, why should I change? Well, there are many features to the solar-powered car that were created for the comfort of the consumer. The car is solar-powered, doesn’t release emissions, and like all-electric powered machines it barely makes noise. The car can charge itself because it doesn’t need to be plugged in and only need’s the sun. Fuel is free!! These cars only need the sun to work and last time I checked you can use that for free. As technology develops and solar powered cars are released to the public. It will become really popular(how Tesla is today), and create a ripple effect where everyone will want one. By 2025, the cars will be fully functional and people will be highly encouraged to change to the solar vehicles to help the planet.

The solar-powered vehicle industry will be booming in the future when some of the problems are fixed. By 2027, the solar car industry will reach $689 billion and this isn’t a surprise. The idea of having a car that is fully powered by a renewable source is mind-blowing!