A major breakthrough in the genus of Indian automotive engineering is yet to witness, as a team of 20 students of RV College of Engineering in collaboration with each other are all set to introduce their solar powered vehicle Soleblaze.
A solar vehicle is primarily powered by direct solar energy. Photovoltaic cells (PVC) are installed on the car to collect and convert solar energy into electric energy. Made of silicon and compounds of indium, gallium and nitrogen, the semiconductors assimilate light and after that discharge it, making a stream of electrons that produce power.
The Soleblaze will compete in the World Solar Challenge. The competition inaugurated in 1987. It is a biennial solar- powered car race, which is the ultimate challenge in sustainable energy. The challenge is to design and build a car capable of crossing the Australian Outback using only sunlight as fuel at the highest average speed. The event occurs every two years and attracts corporations, research, and educational institutions from all around the world. Teams start in Darwin and race a car powered only by the sun through the Outback desert to Adelaide. In 2013, first place was secured by Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands.
The 2 crore rupee worth Soleblaze will compete this year among 45 cars, including oversears competitors like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford and Cambridge universities. The competition will flow from 18-25 October, the challenge crosses 3,000 covering the entire continent of Australia.
A host of corporate and experts including electric car pioneer Chetan Maini, who cofounded the Reva electric car, back the Indian project.
[“source-indiatoday.intoday”]
