I am a firm believer that if electric cars are to gain widespread acceptance, they first need to be proven in America’s congested cities. Most city dwellers usually don’t drive that far, have access to alternate forms of transportation, and likely spend more time on their iPhones than in a car anyway. It is the perfect proving ground for electric cars.
The MINILUX Solar Car concept realizes this, and rather than serving as an expensive paperweight while sitting idle, it can actually return energy back to the grid. It’s pretty neat looking too, aside from those funky wheels.
By Alex Felsinger •
December 1, 2008
The fire department in Shawnee, PA decided in July to experiment with solar panels atop one of their trucks, hoping the few panels would produce enough juice to power the many tools that otherwise are often powered by an idling engine. Months later, the firefighters report success.
By Dave Harcourt •
October 11, 2008
This is a guest post by Dave Harcourt of Pretoria, who is active in information transfer for agricultural processing in Africa, mainly via the DIGIVU Blog.
South Africa, recently dogged by electricity shortages at the state-run generator (Eskom), is innovating strongly in the energy sector. I will be discussing examples of this innovation in future posts, but now for the first of several reports on newsworthy energy related events in South Africa.
South African Solar Challenge 2008
South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) was one of the supporters of the South African Solar Challenge 2008 solar car race, which ended at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria this week. Solar car races are by no means new, but this is the first time one has been run in South Africa. The race, which was noted in a recent post on solar cars, was organized by the Advanced Energy Foundation.
We desparately need a way to get the solar cars widely adopted and out on streets.
By Andrew Williams •
September 9, 2008
For almost two years, Canadian Marcelo da Luz has been driving his solar-powered car, the Power of 1 (Xof1 for short) across North America in an attempt to set a world distance record for a solar vehicle. When he reached Alaska earlier this week, the admittedly off-the-wall looking car was spotted by a concerned citizen, who dialled 911 to report a UFO sighting. Alaskan police quickly took off in hot pursuit, and pulled poor Marcelo over for interrogation.
