Undergrads develop solar electric car

by Anjana Samarasinghe

World oil prices increase by the day and it has badly affected developing countries like Sri Lanka. The Government imported 1,6142,729 barrels of crude oil worth Rs. 61.45 billion last year and hopes to import the same amount this year too.

Smoke and noises emitted by the vehicles can seriously affect the environment. Considering these issues, a group of students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa (UOM) has developed a solar electric vehicle with the assistance of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

The vehicle was exhibited at the Innovation UOM 2005 organized by UOM which was held last week at the BMICH.

The project team consisted B. Marasinghe, C. Jayakody, S. Perera, N. Piyasiri R. Wickramasinghe and was supervised by Dr. R. Weerasinghe.

According to the project team, the vehicle is driven by a DC motor. The electricity is supplied by a battery bank. These batteries can be charged by solar panels, fixed on the body of the vehicle or using household electricity.

If the batteries are charged fully, the vehicle can run nearly 40Km with a maximum speed of 40km per hour. It will cost less than Rs 1 for one-kilometre said H. Punchihewa a lecturer at the University.

The total manufacturing cost was Rs. 400,000 and solar panels cost half of the total cost. Some of the components including solar panels have been imported. The major problem is that the vehicle is too heavy due to heavy metal used in the manufacturing process.

Replacing them with fibreglass can solve this. After further developments the vehicle can be sold at a price like Rs. 600,000 in the local market, he said.

There was a good response from investors who came to the exhibition. Some of them pledged to support further developments of the vehicle.

The project team is keen on introducing their product investors who could go for mass production. The main objective of the Innovation UOM 2005 was to promote awareness to the Sri Lankan industries and public about the projects carried out by the Moratuwa University with commercialisation potential.

The innovations at this exhibition were related to industry applications, consumer foods, social aspects, health and sports, defence, agriculture, information technology, medicine, fashion and creative designs.