An intro to solar-charged driving

Poll: Solar-charging

What is the most enticing reason to solar-charge a car?

	fueling independence
	true zero emissions driving
	reduce global warming
	it makes economic sense
	other

An intro to solar-charged driving

Solar-charged driving has been around for awhile. That's not surprising, given that all it really takes is solar panels somewhere producing electricity and a battery powered vehicle, whose batteries are charged by electricity produced by the sun. Imagine a tiny, remote controlled, battery-powered car and a tiny solar panel with a tiny inverter. Plug your remote-controlled car into the solar-recharger and, voila, in a little while you're running it on the sun. It's that easy -- and at a general level (meaning above the level of the engineering of a car, batteries themselves, etc.) -- that simple. In the articles in the section, we give you the basic information that you need to get started.

Why solar charge? An introduction

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 16:25 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

traffic stopped a busy intersection

Assuming you have an EV and/or PHEV, there are countless reasons to solar-charge your car(s). Cleaner air, complete individual fuel independence, and greater national fuel independence are just a few of the specific reasons to run your car on the sun.

Basically, the reasons to solar-charge your car fall into four broad categories:

Environmental reasons to solar-charge your car
Independence reasons to solar-charge your car
Energy conservation reasons to solar-charge your car
Political reasons to solar-charge your car

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Environmental reasons to solar-charge

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 21:33 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

There’s no disputing that running an EV or PHEV fully, or partially on the sun, is far more environmentally friendly than using gasoline.

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Independence reasons to solar-charge

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 21:34 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

gas station with R.I.P. superimposed on it An EV frees you from trips to the gas station. You will never again share gas fumes with others at a self-serve gas station near you.

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Energy reasons to solar-charge

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 21:35 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

solar-powered plane Even the loudest, most obnoxious proponents of fossil fuels as the answer to powering modern industrial society are forced to concede one thing:

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Political reasons to solar-charge

Wednesday, 12 August 2009 21:37 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

blurred car with words: solar-charge your next car For far too long, far too many people have claimed renewable energy is “impractical,” “too costly,” and that it simply “can’t” be done.

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Solar-charged driving as easy as 1-2-3

Thursday, 13 August 2009 00:00 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

house, solar panels & PHEV = solar-charged driving A good friend of mine and I were about halfway into a three-hour brainstorming session for SCD.Com in July of 2009 when he turned to me and asked: “I must be dense or something, but I’m still not quite sure what solar-charged driving is. Can you run it by me again?”

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Editor's SCD story: No solar panels -- yet

Friday, 14 August 2009 00:00 | Written by Christof Demont-Heinrich, SCD.Com Editor |

head shot of christof demont-heinrich

My own solar-charged driving story is an ongoing one that in some ways has barely begun.

As of August 2009, we have:

No solar panels on our home.
No EV (electric vehicle) or PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) in our garage.

What we do have are:

A tremendous amount of enthusiasm and energy for solar and solar-charged driving.
A clear commitment to making sure we do get the missing components above.

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