Top Q:When will I be able to buy a solar electric or PV-powered car?
The benefits of solar cars are obvious – they don’t pollute, and free sunlight is their fuel. The drawbacks are that, using today’s technology, a solar car has to be very lightweight for the panels to provide enough energy to power the car at road speeds, and it has to have enough battery storage to travel long distances without sunlight (at night and on overcast days). As part of continued research and development, many organizations are improving the systems used in solar cars to make them more efficient and cost effective. Some car companies are making great strides in this area with the new petrol/electric hybrids, and future progress is likely to be rapid.
