In order to cut down the rising pollution issue in the country, Indian Space Research Organization aka ISRO recently successfully tested Solar based hybrid electric car.
The technology is developed by the organization itself. The successful testing is a milestone in the field of public transportation.
Once implemented on road for pilot project, ISRO is also ready to share the technology with Indian auto industry to boost the solar based transportation and to cut down the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Today, most of the Indian state transport corporations as well as city transport services use diesel-based buses as public transit system. Recently, only few of the city transport corporations ordered electric-hybrid based vehicles as a part of green initiative. Most of the transport corporations cannot afford the high-end foreign technology of hybrid vehicle due to their weak financial state. Interestingly, the major expenses of these corporations are fuel charges.
It is clear that the technology provided by ISRO will be cheaper than that of available foreign technology. Hence the test is important to the auto industry.
The technology in brief:
The project requires expertise from the different fields of engineering like automotive, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering.
ISRO’s specially designed solar panel works as a roof as well as source of power. It converts sun rays into DC electrical energy which is stored in the Lithium Ion battery along with the super capacitor. Super capacitor helps to fulfil the peak torque requirement of the vehicle. A light-weight brushless DC motor is used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. An IC engine is coupled to the motor for final torque requirements.
What Next?
The successful testing of car now requires government’s initiative to enable various transport corporations to buy these hybrid vehicles. I hope current Modi government will fill the bridge between industry and ISRO.
