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The Solar Van is an example of an environmentally friendly means of transport. It uses electricity as it’s source of power, and a large electric motor to drive it. Most modern vehicles use petrol or diesel engines (fossil fuels) to propel them. Being electric the Solar Van does not make any noise or create pollution! Petrol and Diesel internal combustion engines burn their fuel and create noise along with harmful emissions including carbon dioxide, soot and carbon monoxide. The solar van uses power from the sun in two main ways to generate electricity!
1) Silicon Solar Panels directly convert the sun’s rays into electricity. 2) Solar rays heat the earth’s surface and atmosphere causing large movements of air known to us as wind, this is converted into electricity using a special turbine or windmill generator. The energy generated by both of these methods is stored in large batteries, similar to the one in a normal car but much bigger. This stored energy is used to drive the van using the electric motor instead of an internal combustion engine. The rest of the van works in the same way as most other vehicles. The Solar Van can travel for about 100 miles before it needs recharging, and it has a maximum speed of about 60 mph. The Solar Van can also be recharged by plugging it into a normal mains electricity socket and this costs only about 1.5p per mile travelled. The Solar Van cost about £7500 to build, and is actually a recycled old petrol van which was worn out, rusty, noisy and smelly before it was converted! I hope you have enjoyed learning about the Solar Van and how it helps to prevent damage to our planet. |
