Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vocal bomb. Here. There may be no
Speaker 1: such thing as a free lunch, but what about a
Speaker 1: free ride. I think of how awesome it would be
Speaker 1: if your car could keep running without you spending a
Speaker 1: dime on fuel. If you drove a solar powered car,
Speaker 1: that dream could be a lot closer to reality. Much
Speaker 1: like solar powered homes, solar cars harness energy from the sun,
Speaker 1: then converted into electricity. That electricity then fuels the car's
Speaker 1: power train, which is similar to the combination of an
Speaker 1: electric motor and battery based energy storage that drives modern
Speaker 1: hybrid cars. Solar cars can accomplish this through photovoltaic cells.
Speaker 1: These are the components in solar paneling that convert the
Speaker 1: sun's energy to electricity. They're made up of semiconductors usually
Speaker 1: made of silicon, that absorbed light. The sunlight's energy then
Speaker 1: freeze electrons in the semiconductors, creating a flow of electrons.
Speaker 1: That flow generates the electricity that powers the battery or
Speaker 1: the specialized motor in solar cars. The earliest solar cars
Speaker 1: were d I y jobs of the nineteen seventies, mostly
Speaker 1: designed and dissembled in car enthusiasts garages. Several organizations also
Speaker 1: experimented with race cars designed to take advantage of solar power.
Speaker 1: The World Solar Challenge began in nineteen three and races
Speaker 1: about three thousand kilometers or miles across Australia every two years.
Speaker 1: The American Solar Challenge started in nineteen nine and follows
Speaker 1: a route across North America that changes almost every year.
Speaker 1: These helped engineers understand the potential and the limitations of
Speaker 1: collecting and storing solar energy, maximizing aerodynamics, and identifying other
Speaker 1: challenges to running a car powered off of the sun.
Speaker 1: As for major auto manufacturers contributions to the field, Ford
Speaker 1: and Mazda notably both introduced solar hybrid concept cars in
Speaker 1: the mid two thousands, and Catillac designed a concept car
Speaker 1: that used solar panels to help power accessories like interior
Speaker 1: lighting and audio, which typically draw off of a car's
Speaker 1: electrical system and thus in turn contribute to fuel consumption.
Speaker 1: And none of these concept cars made it to production,
Speaker 1: which means they were never available to consumers, and after that,
Speaker 1: investment in solar car technology more or less when dark,
Speaker 1: at least as a mainstream pursuit. But in the meanwhile,
Speaker 1: many automakers have shifted development resources toward making hybrid and
Speaker 1: plug in hybrid cars more practical, efficient, and affordable than ever.
Speaker 1: So is it time to give solar cars another shot?
Speaker 1: The new generation solar cars that are on the horizon
Speaker 1: are more like hybrids that add solar power to the mix.
Speaker 1: It's now less about making these solar panels themselves better
Speaker 1: and more about the fact that hybrid and electric cars
Speaker 1: and their infrastructure is better. In other words, it's easier
Speaker 1: and more affordable than ever for consumers to go buy
Speaker 1: an electric or hybrid car, and these cars are more efficient,
Speaker 1: easier to charge, and have fewer compromises overall than e
Speaker 1: vs and hybrids of just a few years ago. That
Speaker 1: means there are more people who could potentially take advantage
Speaker 1: of solar power to run a car, and that solar
Speaker 1: power will literally go farther than it would have in
Speaker 1: the past. And that said, solar panel technology has improved too.
Speaker 1: It's more affordable and easier for most consumers to incorporate
Speaker 1: into a home update. But solar powered cars still have
Speaker 1: a long way to go. It's unlikely that we'll see
Speaker 1: a car that can be fully powered by a solar
Speaker 1: panel that's been integrated into the roof, because a panel
Speaker 1: that size is just too small to produce the power
Speaker 1: needed for a car. Energy Stage, a company that helps
Speaker 1: consumers research and shot for solar technology, estimates that a
Speaker 1: car completely covered in solar panels, not just the roof,
Speaker 1: could only power an electric car for a maximum of
Speaker 1: twenty five miles or forts a day, and that's assuming
Speaker 1: weather and other conditions are absolutely perfect. Yet, Energy Stage
Speaker 1: argues that a solar panel that gives a car a
Speaker 1: boost of just a few miles a day would still
Speaker 1: be worth the investment, and several automakers are investing in
Speaker 1: the technology. High tech company light Year released two light
Speaker 1: Year research vehicles to test its integrated solar technology on
Speaker 1: the road in June. Of The company says it's preparing
Speaker 1: to begin production on an exclusive series of cars equipped
Speaker 1: with its solar technology by the end of one for
Speaker 1: delivery in two Toyota is testing a version of the
Speaker 1: Prius with an integrated solar roof in Japan. This demo version,
Speaker 1: which is not for sale, can charge the car while
Speaker 1: it's being driven. It's earlier version could only charge while parked.
Speaker 1: Sonata Hybrid, however, is available to American consumers and comes
Speaker 1: with a solar roof panel that recharges the car's batteries.
Speaker 1: The roof panel generates enough electric power to increase the
Speaker 1: car's driving range by about two miles or three kilometers
Speaker 1: a day, and the Testlas cyber truck, which was unveiled
Speaker 1: in November of twenty nineteen but isn't expected to be
Speaker 1: released until two has an option for solar panels, even
Speaker 1: though CEO Elon Musk has previously said that solar panels
Speaker 1: on cars are too inefficient, and that brings us to
Speaker 1: the question of whether or not the extra cost of
Speaker 1: adding solar panels to a car is worth it. For example,
Speaker 1: cars in sunnier locations and cars that are parked outside
Speaker 1: rather than in a garage will generate more solar power
Speaker 1: and offer more of a financial benefit to owners, but
Speaker 1: it still remains to be seen whether the financial costs
Speaker 1: to automakers will be beneficial enough to produce them. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: there are d I Y solar panel kits available that
Speaker 1: are designed to contribute to powering the battery of an
Speaker 1: electric or plug in hybrid car via the homes charging system.
Speaker 1: Similar aftermarket kits are offered and marketed as ways to
Speaker 1: help power r vs or trailers. They can also be
Speaker 1: used to collect and store energy for camping accessories such
Speaker 1: as tents or cooking setups like those designed to mount
Speaker 1: in the bed of a pickup truck. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article Solar panels are Slowly making their
Speaker 1: Way on Cars on house toff works dot com, written
Speaker 1: by Kristen Conger and Sres three Wi. Brain Stuff is
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff
Speaker 1: works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For
Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.