Imagine a car that runs without gasoline or even electricity. It could even be better: it could do it without carrying any fuel that would force you to stop to refuel. They have succeeded and the results have fallen short: it has crossed almost an entire country without stopping, and with energy that is as renewable as it is unlimited.
Started as a student proposal, it ended up becoming the first solar car in history
An entirely new solar vehicle named Stella Terra is produced by the students of Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. The vehicle is distinct due to its solar energy powering.
The rover car for the off-road mission was invented for the Solar Team Eindhoven Stella Vie projects which is dedicated to the invention of solar technology area within vehicle electrification.
Solar energy was the only way we could power the property; thus, Stella Terra was conceived from the beginning as a solar powered attraction. The car comes with a streamlined look and solar panels on its all-horizontal surfaces that are designed with efficiency monocrystalline solar technology for high solar collection.
The sunlight photo panels recharge the vehicle’s series of high-capacity lithium-ion batteries, resulting in day and night total driving. During over two years of work, they were employing the engineering knowledge and design skills to make Stella Terra suitable for a solar electric driving.
They started it up with just the sun, and the results dazzled the scientists
However, in September 2023 an extraordinary event took place. Then, Stella Terra crossed at least 620 miles in the Moroccan Sahara Desert and this was the first test drive that reached the international arena.
From Morocco we went by the cherry-red aged and enduring off-road vehicles, those were running on dunes making them undulate, slopes driving to peaks were no obstacles and terrible terrains were no surprise during a 19-day journey.
Its journey would traverse the brutally arid desert and end finally at the country’s southern boundary and then back. The whole trip from Stella Terra using the solar panels as the power source on its electric motors, which are designed to convert sunlight directly into electricity to power its engine was exclusively done.
With a built-in reactor that produces its own hydrogen fuel on board, the vehicle was able to move continuously, without ever having to stop for fuel or recharging. The successful mock flight showed very well that the Stella Terra spaceship could at the same time take advantage of the solar energy source, even in the most extreme territories.
How does this vehicle work? The engine that could redefine what we know about sustainable mobility
The Stella Terra is the only spacecraft in history to be completely powered by solar energy from the sun through pioneering solar technology. The car essentially employs a regular photovoltaic setup that turns solar radiation into electricity.
These PV cells are made from semiconducting material such as silicon that works using Photons from light to create electrons that, in turn, drive an electrical current. The solar cells form into a grid that is arranged into panels in the top cover of the Stella Terra.
Hence when solar rays hit the panels, the solar cells (converted them to the DC power which is then sent to the electric engine to make the rotor of the engine move). By absorbing direct and indirect sunlight, the solar panels are efficient enough even for days with poor visibility.
The fact that we have invented a solar car has more implications than one might think. The key is that we have a clue as to what the vehicles of the future will be like: inexhaustible energy, no polluting fuels and, of course, no more stopping to refuel. Goodbye then to hydrogen and electric motors? Not for the time being, there is still plenty of room for innovation.