SOLAR POWERED BUGGY

 

HOME | BIOLOGY | FILMS | GEOGRAPHY | HISTORY | INDEX | MUSIC | SOLAR BOATS | SPORT | SPONSORS

 

 

Somewhere is the heart of the Sussex countryside a solar powered car is under development, which could be the first vehicle of it's kind and may very well be the beginning of the end of petrol dependence in years to come.

 

Nelson has been building cars for 20 years.  He started with a Joystick controlled car called the Borzoi, way back in 1984, for which he was awarded British Patent number 2218187.  His next car was the Bluebird Electric 1, a car which featured battery cartridge exchange by built in loaders. He was awarded British Patent 2253379 for this development.  He was also the project manager of a LSR attempt until 1997.  The construction of Bluebird Electric 3 for the 2007/8 seasons is ongoing.  During this time Nelson has also designed and built several working solar boats.

 

 

 

Nelson Kruschandl

 

The brief is simple: Design and build a lightweight buggy or car, which is capable of operating on solar power, to provide the equivalent of 10,000 road miles a year.  Now obviously, this is dependent on your geographical location, since sunshine varies with declination.  It also depends on how many cells you can pack.  The United Kingdom is at 51 degrees of latitude, hence does not see as much sunlight as Italy or California, let alone Adelaide. So, Nelson has his work cut out.

 

At the moment solar or electric rickshaws are available, but they are expensive and have limitations. Conventional rickshaws have no suspension and only three wheels. A three wheeled vehicle is nowhere near as stable. A lack of suspension would put off the vast majority of road users - potential customers.

 

It's all very well building a solar car if you are spending £100,000 or more.  Most student built solar racing cars cost at least this.  Nelson aims to produce a solar car, or at least solar assisted car or buggy, for a development cost of around £10,000.  The car is to have independent suspension all round and disc brakes and carry two passengers.  There will be an optional petrol power pack, for those awkward moments when the sun is shy.  Such a car if mass produced could retail for £3,000.

 

The development car will be powered by an advanced DC motor, running through a Curtis controller at 48 volts to provide 7.5Kw or 10hp.  The very latest mono-crystalline solar cells will be used operating at 18% efficiency and a Lithium Poly battery is to be incorporated.  As you may have gathered, these are expensive high specification items.  A 1200w 4 stroke petrol generator will be an optional accessory, as will be a lightweight charger for top up from domestic supplies.  Nelson is hoping to be able to test the Gemini motor in this vehicle.

 

If you might be interested in a custom built solar buggy for yourself, why not put your name down as an interested party.  As and when the first car rolls into the sunlight, customers will be offered the chance to order a car, on a first come first served basis.  Although, the target price is £3,000, you will appreciate that is for a mass produced version.  Hand built made to order (or pre-production) models are likely to be around £10,000.  If you are interested, ask for a quote.

 

 

 

 

Picture coming soon

 

 

 

 

1. Chassis - and seating

2. Mechanics - suspension, steering, brakes

3. Motor and drive train

4. Motor controller

5. Solar Array - usually part of body

6. Batteries or fuel cells

7. Electrical System - and instruments

8. Driver Controls - switches, lighting, etc

9. Bodywork - Screen, etc

 

 

 


 

 

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE SOLAR CAR TEAMS:

 

 

ORGANISATION A-Z

CAR'S NAME

TEAM NAME

Aristotle Uni of Thessaloniki, Helios

Helios

Faculty of Engineering

Arizona Solar Racing Team - USA

Arizona Solar Racing Team

Auburn University

Sol of Auburn

Sol of Auburn

Aurora Team, Australia

Aurora

Aurora Vehicle Association

Bochum Solar Car Team

Das SolarCar der Fachhochschule

California Poly S University

SLO Burn  Sidewinder

San Luis Obispo

Clarkson Uni Solar Car Team, USA

The Solar Knights

Delft University - Holland

NUNA I & II 2003

Dell Winston School

The Hunter

Solar Car Challenge

Desert Rose, Northern Territory Uni

FUJI DESERT ROSE

Drexel SunDragon Home Page

École de technologie supérieure Quebec

Eclipse V (5)

Éclipse Vehicular Solaire 

École Polytechnique de Montréal

Esteban

Eko-Auto  Poland

Eko-Auto

Electron Analytic Corporation

Dark Horse

EAC Skunkworks

George Washington University

George Washington Uni Solar Car

Georgia Institute of Technology

Solar Jackets

Solar Jackets

Heliodet, Germany

Heliodet

Heliodet, Solar Car Team

Helios - Lille, France

Hélios IV

Hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur

Honda Car Company

Honda

Illinois State University

Surya, Ratha, Mercury

Illinois State University Team

Iowa State University

Fusion

Team PrISUm

Jonasun  Japan

Orbit

Solar Car Paviion

Kansas State University

Paragon

Solar Car Racing Team

Los Altos Academy of Engineering

Los Altos Solar Car Team

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tesseract

MIT

McGill University Monteal, Canada

iSun

Team iSun

McMaster University

Phoenix

McMaster Uni Solar Car Project

Messiah College Grantham, Penns

Genesis II

Genesis II Solar Racing Team

Michigan State University

 

Solar Racing Team

Michigan Technological University

Solar Car Team

Minnesota S Uni-Mankato/Winona S Uni

Minnesota Solar Car Team

North Dakota State University

The Double Deuce

Sunsetters - Solar Race Team

Northwestern University

N'Uvation

Northwestern University

Nuon Solar Team, Netherlands

Nuon 3

Het Nuon Solar Team

Osaka Sangyo University, Japan

OSU model S

Solar Car Team

Prairie View A&M University

Solaris

Sun Panthers

Principia College

RA 6

Principia College Solar Car Team

Purdue University

SPOT 2

Purdue University Solar Racing

Queen's University Canada

Radiance  Gemini

Queen's Solar Vehicle Team

Red River College 

Red River Raycer

Red River College Solar Car Team

Rice University

Rice University

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Rose-Hulman Solar Car Team

Southern Illinois Uni Edwardsville

Cougar Cruiser

Southern Illinois University

South Bank University, UK

Mad Dog

South Bank Mad Dog Team

South Dakota School Mines & Tech

Solar Motion

South Dakota Solar Motion Team

Southern Taiwan University Tech

Southern Taiwan Solar Team

Stanford University

Solstice

Stanford Solar Car Project

Tamagawa University - Japan

Tamagawa Solar Challenge Project

Team Futura, Italy

FUTURA 2

Team Futura

Team SunLake - Japan

Phaethon model

Team SunLake TOYOBO

Texas A&M University

Columbia Sunraycer

Texas A&M Motorsports Team

The Power of One  - Toronto

Xof1

The Xof1 solar car team

Tufts University

ANNE E. B. II

Nerd Girls

University of Alberta

University of Alberta Team

University of Arizona

Drifter

Solar Racing Team

University of Calgary

 

UC Calgary Solar Car Team

University of California-Berkeley

CalSol 

California Calsol Team

University of Kansas

Solution, CATalyst

KSU Solar Car Racing Team

University of Kentucky

Gato del Sol II

Solar Car Team

University of Massachusetts 

Spirit of Mass 413

Lowell Solar Racing Team

University of Michigan

Momentum

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota

Borealis III

U of M Solar Vehicle Project

University of Missouri Columbia

Suntiger VI

The Mizzou Solar Car Project

University of Missouri Rolla

Solar Miner V

Solar Minor Car Team 

University of North Dakota

Subzero 3

Team SubZero

University of Ontario Institute of Tech

UOI Solar Vehicle Team

Uni of New South Wales SCR Team

UNSW Sunswift III

New South Wales SCR Team

University of Patras, Hermes

Solar Car Team

University of Pennsylvania

Keystone

Penn Solar Racing

University of Queensland

Sunshark

Queensland Solar Team

University of South Australia

Ned  KELLY

SA Solar Car Consortium

University of Texas at Austin

Solar Steer

Solar Vehicles Team

University of Texas at El Paso

 

Solraycers

University of Toronto

Blue Sky

Blue Sky Solar Racing

University of Toulouse

Heliotrope

Heliotrope Solar Car Team

University of Utah 

 

Vehicle Design Team Utah

University of Virginia

 

UVa Solar Car Team

University of Waterloo

Midnight Sun VIII

Midnight Sun Solar Race Team

University of Western Ontario

Sunstang

Sunstang USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

USP Solar Car Team

Western Michigan University

Sunseeker 05

W Michigan Solar Car Team

Yale University

The John Lee

Team Lux

 

 

 

 


 

 A taste for adventure capitalists

 

 

Solar Cola - the healthier alternative

 

 

EDUCATION  |  SOLAR CAR RACING TEAMS  |  SOLAR CAR RACING EVENTS

The content of this website is copyright © and design copyright 1991 and 2006 Electrick Publications and NJK. All rights reserved. The bluebird logo and name Bluebird and Blue Max are trademarks.  The BE2 and BE3 vehicle shape and configuration are registered designs ®.  All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.  Max Energy Limited is an environmental educational charity.