Project SEED

The future is here with this solar powered car designed and developed by De La Salle University (DLSU) students and faculty. They will be using it for the 2011 World Solar Car Challenge in Australia after testing it and promoting the use of solar energy by touring the Philippines.

SURFACE AREA
As you can see in the picture, the design of the car is meant to take advantage of as much surface area as possible. Sunpower which provides the highest-efficiency solar cells in the world is a sponsor and they manufacture the cells right in Laguna.

ABOUT THE CAR
Sikat’s body is made of lightweight carbon fiber found in current F1 car models. At 190 kg, Sikat is lighter by 100 kilograms than the original solar car produced by DLSU last year called Sinag. It can also outrun Sinag’s top speed of 112 kph.

Read more about it in good news pilipinas.

As more investment goes into solar energy, prices are also dropping while efficiency increasing. This is good news all around and homeowners in the US are finally able to tap into this wonderful resource without having to take out their entire savings.

According to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray, solar panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels: polysilicon, which is now being manufactured in great quantities and at much lower costs in China.

Europe is still the biggest market and hopefully Asia will follow soon- even if only government driven.

Here in Singapore, some retailers such as Sembawang Shopping Center have 51 solar panels on its roof to keeps the flourescent lighting in the mall lit. The solar panel system cost S$150,000 (US$103,380), and is expected to have a payback period of 20 years. That was back in 2008- it should be 30-40% cheaper to have similar installations now.

There are 4 other malls that are taking advantage of Singapore’s sunny days with the help of the government’s Clean Energy Programme Office, an inter-government agency effort to develop Singapore into a global clean energy hub. It administers the S$20 million (US$13.8 million) Solar Capability Scheme to encourage green facilities by the private sector, and a similar S$17 million (US$11.7 million) Clean Energy Research and Testbedding initiative for the public sector. 313@Somerset is one of five solar testbed projects supported by the Singapore government.