Design and Development of Solar Powered Electric Car

Project Title

Design and Development of Solar Powered Electric Car

Project Area of Specialization Electrical/Electronic EngineeringProject Summary

The aim of this project is mainly to design solar powered electric car, which has one person’s capacity. Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more popular, as this technology decrease reliance on fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emission. Electric vehicle (EV) based on electric propulsion system. No internal combustion engine is used, all the power is electric power as the energy source. So it can be considered as a fully eco-friendly vehicle which is the carrying need of present situation of the world. A feasible alternative source of renewable energy is solar energy. In the proposed design of electric car, flexible photovoltaic cells will be used to convert solar energy in to electrical energy and then it will be injected to the car. For storage of electric energy Lithium ion batteries will be used. The safety system for the battery back consists of battery modules and a protection circuit made on a printed circuit board.

Project Objectives

The main objective of this project is to design and develop of solar powered electric car which will efficient, cheaper and most of all an environment friendly. The car consists of three fundamental components, a solar panel, lithium ion battery and a BLDC motor. This design consist of two electrical sources these are solar and convention electrical energy from electrical grid. Solar will connect by default with a battery and an additional power source will be used only when power from solar cells is unavailable. Thus we aim to reducing the fuel consumption and decreasing the carbon dioxide gases from the air. There is no internal combustion engine is used is this car.

Project Implementation Method

In this project, two electrical sources are used to drive the car uniformly, first is electrical charging plug in system and second is charging from solar panel which is connected in default with a lithium ion battery both of them will charge the battery. In normal conditions car will run from the sun light through solar panels which will charge a battery. Because this is completely a nonlinear system. A solar charging controller will be designed, which charge a battery uniformly from the sun and the battery will give power to the motor. The input electrical energy would be extracted from the solar panel installed on it and that energy would be stored in the large numbers cycles battery. Stored energy would be used by DC drive system to control the BLDC motor to run the car at required speed and torque.  While a rainy weather or long drive at night we can use plug in charging system. There are two type of control system in our project first is charging control system which will act like a power generator circuits and second is motor control system which will control the speed of motor and provide power to drive the motor it will act like a discharging control system. Charging control unit will connect with two electrical sources. Solar panel and plug in charging system. The micro-controller I/O inside controller will detect that how much power will come from the solar panels and how much will need to battery terminal to charge it. The system will be controlled by writing a program for the controller. There will be only one person sitting capacity in it.

Benefits of the Project

A major advantage of electric vehicles is that do not use an engine to power the vehicle. Instead they use a battery pack system that provide electric power to the motor. This allow drivers to avoid the consumption of fossil fuel and eliminate harmful emission.The unsustainable nature of fossil fuel and its horrendous effect on our environment create concern to find an environment friendly alternative energy source as dependency on fossil fuel is increasing exponentially. There are many types of renewable energies like sun, wind, hydropower and biomass, which are safe clean and different from fossil fuel. Hence these all renewable energy source are effective but solar energy is the most environments friendly and sustainable. Solar car would harness energy from the sun via solar panels. A Solar panel is a packaged connected assembly of solar car it also called photovoltaic cells, which will convert solar energy directly into electrical energy through quantum mechanical transitions. Electric car are one of the most promising technology for providing energy security, pollution reduction, save fuel cost, cause less pollution and bring lucrative tax cut. This solar powered hybrid car uses flexible solar panels which will be used to acquire energy from sun and then lithium ion batteries is for storage. By considering these things we will design and develop our solar powered electric car which will more effective and efficient for commercial use. Hopefully this electric car will be able to replace the fueled cars and will play a role in creating a safe and sound environment for new generations.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The scope of the project involves designing and constructing a prototype of solar powered electric car that would be economical, reliable and environment friendly. The specifications of the motor driving car is calculated on the intended desired speed and acceleration to be achieved. The chassis of car is constructed with key components such as hydraulic brake system, a rack and pinion steering system, solar panels and many more. Since petrol, diesel and CNGs are not required for it. It uses solar energy which is abundant in nature. Sunlight is now days considered to be a source of energy which is implemented in various applications. Solar energy is being used to produce electricity through sunlight. The solar and electrical energy which is both cost effective and of course environment friendly which will have a positive effect on the environment.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry Energy Other Industries IT , Transportation Core Technology Clean TechOther Technologies Internet of Things (IoT)Sustainable Development Goals Affordable and Clean EnergyRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	80000
Electric Motor 48v, 1500watt	Equipment	1	20000	20000
Lithium Ion Battery 48v, 20Ah	Equipment	1	32000	32000
Solar Panel 250watt	Equipment	1	9500	9500
Solar Panel 500watt	Equipment	1	2500	2500
Electronic Components	Equipment	1	6000	6000
Complete Model/Prototype of Electric Car	Miscellaneous	1	10000	10000