Solar Team Eindhoven is not building a family car this year, but a driving house on wheels. The Self-sustaining House On Wheels (SHOW) should hit the road in September.
The TU Eindhoven student team has won the past four editions of the world championship for solar cars: the World Solar Challenge. This biennial competition focuses on solar cars. The race takes place in Australia and covers a distance of 3,021 kilometres. Solar Team Eindhoven won the past four editions of the championship.
Stella Era
The team competed in the 2019 championship with the Stella Era. This vehicle is equipped with solar panels and uses them to continuously charge its built-in batteries. The vehicle has a range of 1,200 kilometres with four passengers based on the WLTP cycle.
If the vehicle is optimised for efficiency, however, its range is over 1,800 kilometres. This is due in part to aerodynamics, low weight and high electrical efficiency. For instance, the motors built into the wheels deliver an efficiency of 98.5%. These motors also recover energy when extracting, reducing energy consumption.
The Stella Era can use generated energy not only to power its own engines. The energy can also be shared with other electric vehicles. The Stella Era is therefore described by the team as a 'charging station on wheels'. Built-in features ensure that enough energy remains available for the journey home.
Self-sustaining House On Wheels
The next edition of the World Solar Challenge was scheduled for this year. However, the organisers recently announced that the event cannot go ahead in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. So this year, Solar Team Eindhoven is taking a different tack. This year, Solar Team Eindhoven is focusing on developing a solar-powered driving house. SHOW generates enough energy for not only the motors, but also all kinds of other user equipment. Think laptop, TV or coffee machine.
"SHOW is self-sufficient in terms of energy and independent of charging infrastructure. This shows that solar-powered driving has a lot of potential. The energy generated is used for both driving and living. Everything comes together in one independent energy system," explains Kjell Revenberg, team manager of Solar Team Eindhoven. "SHOW gives a clear insight into your energy consumption. This way, you deal consciously with the energy you have."
Lightyear
The different generations of Stella inspired the Lightyear One. This Dutch-made electric vehicle generates its own energy using built-in solar panels. Lightyear was founded by Solar Team Eindhoven alumni Lex Hoefsloot, Arjo van der Ham, Martijn Lammers, Qurein Biewenga and Koen van Ham. Lightyear announced in mid-2020 that it would bring its solar roof to market in collaboration with DSM. By doing so, the parties aim to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Image by PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay
