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Solar Power On Vehicles
Australia hosts the World Solar Challenge where solar cars like the Nuna3 race through a 3,021 km (1,877 mi) course from Darwin to Adelaide.
Development of a solar powered car has been an engineering goal since the 1980s. The World Solar Challenge is a biannual solar-powered car race, where teams from universities and enterprises compete over 3,021 kilometres (1,877 mi) across central Some vehicles use solar panels for auxiliary power, such as for air conditioning, to keep the interior cool, thus reducing fuel consumption. There is a new concept that may be developed by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler in a Manhattan Project approach in return for their Bail Out Money. In this approach Overhead Solar Panels and wires are installed above Diamond Lanes on the nation's freeways. Concurrently, new electric cars are produced that do not require batteries, but are recharged as they run down the Electrified Freeway. This system could also control the navigation of all electric vehicles allowing the driver and passengers to be connected to the Internet getting work done or being entertained. In 1975, the first practical solar boat was constructed in 
Helios UAV in solar powered flight
A solar balloon is a black balloon that is filled with ordinary air. As sunlight shines on the balloon, the air inside is heated and expands causing an upward buoyancy force, much like an artificially heated hot air balloon. Some solar balloons are large enough for human flight, but usage is generally limited to the toy market as the surface-area to payload-weight ratio is relatively high. Solar sails are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors to exploit radiation pressure from the Sun. Unlike rockets, solar sails require no fuel. Although the thrust is small compared to rockets, it continues as long as the Sun shines onto the deployed sail and in the vacuum of space significant speeds can eventually be achieved. The High-altitude airship (HAA) is an unmanned, long-duration, lighter-than-air vehicle using helium gas for lift, and thin-film solar cells for power. The United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency has contracted Lockheed Martin to construct it to enhance the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Airships have some advantages for solar-powered flight: they do not require power to remain aloft, and an airship's envelope presents a large area to the Sun. |
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