In Chicago, Illinois, about 70 years ago, the notion of a practical solar car was unveiled to the world. Scalable solar electric automobiles are now closer than ever, despite the fact that there is still much potential for innovation, despite the fact that these vehicles began small (literally), they have developed with the sustainable technology sector.
We are now able to provide electricity for homes, companies, and charging facilities that refuel our automobiles every day by utilising the free and plentiful power from our Sun, but what about the possibility of a solar-powered vehicle?
In recent years, a number of firms have emerged to provide solar panel technology and take the expanding electric vehicle market one step closer to sustainability. Organisations like Aptera Motors and Lightyear tried and failed to go into production, but because to investment from those who still see the potential in the technology, they have been given a second chance.
It’s interesting to note that these contemporary businesses were nowhere the first ones to do it, even though we’re still waiting for scalable solar automobiles. It was attempted by previous trailblazers years before a lot of us were actually born.
During the General Motors Powerama Automobile Show in Chicago on August 31, 1955, GM worker William G. Cobb unveiled the “Sunmobile” to a crowd as the first solar-powered car in history. Have you noticed anything when you examine closely at the highlighted photo above?
Certainly a finger that. Cobb wasn’t a giant from a fairy tale, as I initially believed. The Sunmobile solar vehicle was only 15 inches long, which made it just a little bit too small to accommodate any human passengers.
The world’s first solar automobile was not available for the month-long event’s attendees to drive, but they were still able to admire it. More significantly, Cobb’s concept car was the first to popularise photovoltaics, the fundamental scientific method for transforming solar energy into electricity. A little motor was really powered by the zero-emissions electric current created when sunlight struck the 12 photoelectric selenium cells on top of the Sunmobile.
Fewer than ten years later, the first solar automobile big enough to carry passengers was created thanks to the inspiration of other innovators who came after.
The eventual availability of solar-powered automobiles is still mostly uncertain
The International Rectifier Company adapted a vintage model 1912 Baker electric automobile to function on photovoltaic energy employing a rooftop panel equipped with roughly 10,640 sun cells three years after the introduction of the Sunmobile.
Even though the sun-powered Baker electric car wouldn’t be seen in the public until 1962, it showed that an automobile could theoretically run solely on solar energy. Full-scale prototypes were showcasing the same concept fifteen years later, but with the help of new technologies.
This innovation persisted into the 1980s, when solar-powered vehicles like GM’s 1987 Sunraycer won Guinness World Records due to their record-breaking journeys. These vehicles, however, were only made for competition and weren’t intended for public consumption.
Thanks to developments in photovoltaics and aerodynamics, solar-powered vehicles are now much sleeker and more effective, but we are still a long way from being able to travel using only solar energy.
As an element of a mobile energy storage system (ESS), batteries continue to play a significant role in zero-emission transportation. In light of this, it makes much more sense to include solar technology into electric vehicles (EVs), albeit doing so is still difficult.
Solar panels have been added to RV roofs by manufacturers like Winnebago, but they only generate enough power to run the electronics inside the RV and not the vehicle itself. Even while firms like Lightyear and Aptera have created solar technology that is far more effective, such solar EVs still need several hours or even days in the sun to refuel with enough energy.
In addition, because scaling and mass production of electric automobiles powered by solar technology need such large sums of money, many of these firms are yet to present a production vehicle.
There may never be a 100% solar commuter automobile that performs as well as a conventional car, but consider how far the concept has advanced since 1955. Future advancements in technology for solar cells will undoubtedly lead to the technology at least partially recharging our cars’ batteries.
Following the development of clean mobility is thrilling, and it is encouraging to consider how far technology will have advanced in another 70 years. I’ll check in again then, I swear.
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