Connected Traffic Cloud for Solar-Powered Car has built a solar-powered family car in the Netherlands. In contrast to conventional cars and electric vehicles, the solar powered car does not contribute to climate change and can generate electricity for a household.
Fast facts:
- In in the first 10 to 12 months of average use, the solar car was energy-positive.
- During a famous challenge from Darwin to Adelaide in Australia, the solar-powered car was tested in extreme conditions. After 3,000 kilometers, the car proved it can withstand conditions in Australia and the Netherlands.
The problem
Conventional gasoline cars generate CO2 emissions. For electric cars, the generation of electric energy needed for the cars to run also generates CO2 emissions, which contributes to climate change.
The solution
The solar powered car generates no CO2 emissions whatsoever, and even contributes energy to households. The car is charged by the sun, and the driver is able to determine exactly how much energy the car has by using Connected Traffic Cloud. Connected Traffic Cloud is a managed cloud platform developed by Ericsson that enables two-way data sharing between connected vehicles and road traffic authorities. Connected Traffic Cloud will be used to perform in-depth analytics and can select an optimal route by aggregating car, traffic and weather data.
Helping the planet
If the solar car can be adopted by to a certain percentage of society, then CO2 emissions will reduce significantly. These cars also have a positive effect on the atmosphere. They don’t contribute to air pollution, increasing people’s overall health.
Helping people
The solar-powered family car is beneficial to automobile drivers. Drivers do not have to refuel at gas stations, so they will begin to see positive cash flow. Additional energy that the car generates and is not consumed by travelling, can be uploaded back to the energy network.
Scaling Up
There are many countries which have on average more sunlight than the Netherlands, so the solar car concept is replicable and scalable.
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