Sustainable Building Forum

Why arent scientists working to develop solar energy to use for cars? Maybe they think this cant work at night or when it's cloudy. But cars can be designed to store extra energy to use after sunset. Does anyone have any idea if such research is going on? I believe cars are a major waster of non renewable energy sources & pollute the environment too.

Well Tag, as far as I know solar powered cars are being developed by scientists and one even came out in the UAE (not commercially, just one car) and I went to see it..I guess the main problem after energy storage is the speed of the car..I mean the car which they came out with was going at a snail's pace, I mean it was really slow, plus they are pretty expensive to manufacture so I guess for the time being solar powered cars are pretty much a dream.

Hi Tag

You are absolutely correct. We need to find better ways for utilizing our precious natural resources than spending on cars and autombiles. Research is currently going on throughout the world and there are manufacturers who have come with hybrid versions of vehicles. There are 2 primary reasons that I feel this research is moving at a slow pace-
1. The renewable energy option is not only expensive but also does not even reach the performance standards of petrol/ diesel engines
2. The oil industry is one of the biggest cartels the world over. They would surely not want this energy source coming up too soon.

Scorp

I would love to see more options for renewable energy in the auto industry. Solar power is just one of the options out there.

Tag, I am very touched by your concern for using Solar Energy which is a very important Renewable Energy for powering our cars instead of using Non Renewable Energy such as Petroleum and also prevent air pollution. But you see its very difficult to develop one though it is not impossible. Our scientists would definitely come up with some very good solution for powering cars using Solar Energy in near future which would be very feasible and help us in saving a lot of resources.

From what I have read and seen, it seems that it would be more feasible to have a plug in hybrid with a diesel engine that uses bio-diesel.  Then have solar panels on residential buildings; making double use of solar by also powering your home. 

I know I would rarely drive far enough to even use any bio-diesel, but it would be there as back up when we need it.

I suggest seeing the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?"  It will really get you fired up.

We use bio-diesel in our truck, but wish it was easier to come by.

Nitanae

I am wondering if anyone has read about the entirely electrically powered car that apparently can get up to 120mph, and looks like a sports car (website is http://www.teslamotors.com ).

Anyway I am thinking it would be nice if there was an option to have some sort of solar power behind it. While I realise this would in no way entirely power the car, it could enhance its range and make it a little less needy on the mains supply (the car already uses regenerative breaking to slightly recharge its battery).