Solar Operated Toy Car

MR. Yash Yende , MR. Gururaj Sutar2, MR. Kedar Parab 3,Mr. Shailesh Parab 4,Mr. A. S. Pendse 5.

1234 Student,SSPM’s College Of Engineering ,Kankavli, Maharashtra,India

5Faculty SSPM’s College Of Engineering, Kankavli, Maharashtra,India
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Abstract – usually run on only power from the sun, although some
The idea of this project is to design a solar car that aims to models will supplement that power using a battery, or
tackle the problems related to pollution and shortage of fuel. use solar panels to recharge batteries or run auxiliary
A Smart vehicle is the one that takes all our burdens on systems for a car that mainly uses battery power. The
maintenance of the vehicle while ensuring safety and design of a solar vehicle is severely limited by the
comfort for the driver and the passengers. Various amount of energy input into the car. Some prototypes
parameters have to be taken into account while designing have been designed for public use, although no cars
such a vehicle. In our design we have divided the whole
primarily powered by the sun are available
system into two major divisions namely,
commercially. Solar cars depend on a solar array that
Vehicle monitoring system
uses photovoltaic cells (PV cells) to convert sunlight
 Safety system
into electricity. Unlike solar thermal energy which
 Vehicle monitoring system converts solar energy to heat, PV cells directly convert
includes various sensors that sense the various vital sunlight into electricity. When sunlight (photons)
parameters such as Engine temperature, Fuel level and as
strikes PV cells, they excite electrons and allow them to
we have developed it for a vehicle battery chamber
flow, creating an electric current. PVCs are the
temperature is also included. In addition to this
accelerometers and speed sensors sense abnormal vibrations
components in solar paneling that convert the sun's
in vulnerable parts and over speeding. These data after energy to electricity. They're made up of
being sensed is stored in the cloud. This enables monitoring semiconductors, usually made of silicon, that absorb
of vehicle's performance and drivers actions remotely. Safety the light. The sunlight's energy then frees electrons in
system includes sensing speed of vehicle approaching to the semiconductors, creating a flow of electrons. That
perform safe cuts and lane change over. This also includes flow generates the electricity that powers the battery or
sensing objects in the proximity of the vehicle which helps in the specialized car motor in solar cars. Solar power has
parking and driving in heavy traffic. An Emergency great potential as an energy source for many different
Shutdown System is designed to stop the vehicle at the flick
types of residential homes and businesses. Most people
of a switch when it is out of control.
know that getting energy from the sun is a "clean",
1. INTRODUCTION
environmentally friendly and renewable way to
Energy is an important component in economic
generate energy..
infrastructure of a country. The Sources of conventional
energy is limited. They are reducing day by day. By
using solar vehicle we can save conventional energy
sources and control pollution. The explosion of the
fossil fuel in the motor gives power to the wheels. For
the solar car, the sun's energy is converted to electricity
with the help of the solar cells. It is very important for
the car to be very efficient since its power source is the
sun and it may not be present all the time Solar cars are

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Required Materials: panels, an inverter that converts DC electricity to
The materials needed to make the solar car are: alternating current (AC) electricity, and sometimes
other components such as controllers, meters, and
Chassis of Toy car trackers. A photovoltaic system can be used to provide
 Solar panel electricity for off-grid applications, such as remote
homes or cabins, or to feed electricity into the grid and
 DC motor earn credits or payments from the utility company. This
 Rechargeble Battery is called a grid-connected photovoltaic system. Some
advantages of solar panels are that they use a
 Charging kit renewable and clean source of energy, reduce
 Remote control greenhouse gas emissions, and lower electricity bills.
Some disadvantages are that they depend on the
 Connecting Wire
availability and intensity of sunlight, require cleaning,
 Four wheels and have high initial costs. Solar panels are widely used
for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes, for
Chassis of Toy car space and transportation applications.
For the manufacturing of solar car we buy a toy car
which have following specifications'
Power Voltage Current

3.7V 6V 0.6V

Figure 2 SOLAR PANEL

DC MOTOR

The term 'DC motor' is used to refer to any rotary

electrical machine that converts direct current electrical
energy into mechanical energy. DC motors can vary in
size and power from small motors in toys and
appliances to large mechanisms that power vehicles,
pull elevators and hoists, and drive steel rolling mills.

Types of DC Motors:
• Permanent Magnet DC Motors. The permanent magnet
Figure 1 Chassis of Toy car motor uses a permanent magnet to create field flux. ...
• Series DC Motors. In a series DC motor, the field is
SOLAR PANEL wound with a few turns of a large wire carrying the full
armature current. ...
 A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into • Shunt DC Motors.
electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are •Compound DC Motors.
made of materials that generate electrons when exposed
to light. The electrons flow through a circuit and
produce direct current (DC) electricity, which can be
used to power various devices or be stored in batteries.
Solar panels are also known as solar cell panels, solar
electric panels, or PV modules. Solar panels are usually Figure 3 DC MOTOR
arranged in groups called arrays or systems. A
photovoltaic system consists of one or more solar
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Rechargable Battery Charging System :
Lithium-ion batteries have made significant progress Charging system of the battery basically consists of a
since their commercial market introduction in the early two way charging process. One is charging by solar
1990s. Currently, the major markets are the powering of panel using a solar retrofit (it converts the solar heat
small electronic appliances such as cellular phones, energy to electrical energy) and the second is direct
portable computers, or cameras. Furthermore, lithium- charging. Our charging system consist of a step down
ion technology is rapidly gaining market share in the transformer that converts the power to three voltages
power tools market. Higher energy density at using voltage regulator the three output voltages are
comparable high power density as compared to alkaline 48v, 50v,and 52v. The output voltage is dc but the input
batteries is the main drive. In most of the early designs, is ac so a rectifier is used to convert the AC current to
the negative electrode consisted of graphite, whereas DC current.
the positive electrode was made from lithium cobalt
oxide. However, a wide selection of positive and Working of Solar Car When the solar car project is
negative electrode materials is under investigation. In ready, take it to a place where there is a lot of sun. Place
addition to high energy and power density, lithium-ion the car on a level surface and make sure that the solar
batteries have shown high cycle life particularly when panel is exposed to the sun. After absorbing sunlight,
operated under shallow cycling conditions. Recently, the car will start to run We can also explore the interior
serious development effort has been devoted to lithium- of our homes by replacing sunlight with a high wattage
ion batteries for vehicle traction as well as stationary bulb. We can predict a result (which will be the exact
applications. Promising results have been achieved in same as followed by sunlight). In this solar car project,
both applications. Currently, high-capacity lithium-ion we will learn how solar panels, DC motors work. So, we
batteries are available as prototypes only. At the present can do other projects with their help.
time, limited calendar life when stored under full charge
conditions is one of the major obstacles for use of Charging Indicator:
lithium-ion batteries in the power sector. In addition,
safety is a main concern in the use of lithium-ion Battery charger indicator refers to type of device that
batteries. The introduction of inherently safe materials shows the battery status using LED.This indicator is
or battery designs will be a prerequisite for wide market specifically used to see the left battery level.You can see
introduction of highenergy lithium-ion batteries. The the battery indicator in the form of bars or percentage,
use of lithium-ion batteries for applications in energy that perfectly shows the status of the remaining battery
storage for electric grids or electric vehicles is subject to present.
current research work.

Figure 5 Charging Indicator

Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Solar Car :

Advantages –
Figure 4 Rechargable Battery - A solar car is an eco-friendly vehicle because it has
zero emission levels. They do not burn fuels. The
motors generate electricity that does not emit any toxic
gases or produce any pollution in the environment.

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- The solar car makes less noise pollution when How do solar cars work?
compared to the vehicles powered by conventional fuel.
- Solar car vehicle has no fuel cost and it requires a low The basic principle of a solar car is to use the energy
cost for maintenance. Since the solar car is made of stored in a battery during and after charging a solar
light-weighted components, the car runs faster and panel. The charged batteries are used to drive the
smoothly as compared to normal vehicles. motor which here acts as a motor and drives the vehicle
- In the solar car, solar panels derive the energy from forward in reverse or forward. The electrical outlet
the sunlight/bright bulbs and store them. This stored rheostat is designed to control the speed of the motor.
energy can be used in the future as well.
This prevents excess current when walking. Assumes
- Solar automobiles are the future of the automotive
enterprise. They are highly workable and can be made the vehicle stops abruptly as in normal cars when it
easily. The main advantages of a solar vehicle are that it comes to fuel, this idea, in the future, may help protect
is less polluting and very economical. Because they do our fuels from extinction.
not cause pollution, they are very environmentally
friendly and are the only answer to the increasing Can solar cars run at night?
pollution levels from cars in the current scenario. A solar car is an electric vehicle, powered directly by
- By harvesting renewable energy sources such as solar solar energy, which uses photovoltaic (PV) cells. They
energy, we are helping to preserve non-renewable
directly convert solar energy into electricity. Solar
energy sources. The other main Page 18 advantages of
solar vehicles are that they require less maintenance electric cars can also be driven at night because the
than conventional vehicles and are very easy to use batteries store solar energy during the day. Solar Cell
Panels uses - We can put solar cells on the roof. It can
Disadvantages – be used as a solar water heater which will heat the
- The solar panels or the photovoltaic cell can only water, we can use this water for swimming or any other
convert 20-30% of the sunlight into electricity
work. We can also store this energy and use it in the
depending upon the material that has been used.
- The solar car does not have driver safety features and event of a power failure to charge the phone. We can
any other equipment like headlights, rearview mirror, also save on electricity bills by using solar panels on the
etc. roof.
- The solar car requires a large surface area to mount Conclusion –
the solar panels.
Solar cars are a great concept and it is very useful as
- This is all about how you can make a solar-powered well as environment-friendly. The cars use solar energy
car for a brilliant science project. Just follow the steps and have great benefits. The solar car has different
and arrange all the requirements. By doing this project, benefits, as it is a pollutionfree process. Solar power is
learn how solar cars operate and how this concept can an immense source of directly useable energy and
be an excellent way to replace fossil fuels in the future ultimately creates other energy resources: biomass,
Project Image wind, hydropower and wave energy.
REFERENCES:
 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
337338929_SOLAR_CAR
 https://www.researchpublish.com/upload/
book/Solar%20Powered%20Vehicle
 https://cdn.hackaday.io/files/25804110399
8336/PROJECT%20REPORT1

Figure 6 Project Image

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