Kenyan students at Nyeri National Polytechnic have built a solar powered car in a bid to combat the high cost of fuel prices in the country.
The students behind the innovation said the project is their contribution to the climate change tussle.
Similarly, with technological advancement, the car which uses solar energy is able to travel at 60km/hr.
The car was presented during the 2nd Nyeri National Polytechnic International Research Conference themed “Enhancing Sustainable Growth through Research, Science, Technology, and Innovation.”
Kenyan Made Solar-Powered Car Specifications
According to the college Engineer John Chomba who is also in charge of the innovation, the car was set up in a bid to mitigate climate change.
Likewise, he stated that the innovation was pushed by the rise of fuel prices in the country after extensive research in the motor industry.
“This car has come up as a result of research from various motor industry in Kenya where we have found out that the auto mobiles are producing emissions which are affecting our ozone,” said Chomba.
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According to Chomba, the technology used in building the solar car will reduce the running cost of the vehicle as it will not use any fuel.
While stating the Kenyan made car’s specifications the Nyeri polytechnic Engineer noted that it is currently using 540 watts solar panel.
Additionally, according to the institution’s innovation department, the car being a long-term project took 6 months to construct.
The institution noted that the solar smart car, which was constructed from scratch with first making the body then later assembling is a pioneer car and will cost Ksh. 750.
Solar Car Production
A solar-powered car is a vehicle powered by the sun. The car works with sunlight hitting the solar panel constituting parts of its body.
Hence when the solar cells generate a direct electrical current, it is converted and stored in a battery to power the car’s motor so that it can travel a specific distance.
Worth noting is that, solar car assembling process has critical parts of wiring cable which play a key role in solar vehicles.
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They are used to connect various components of the system, including the solar cable to the solar panels and other photovoltaic components.
Nyeri Polytechnic Plea to the Government
Further the institution pleaded with the government to join the noble project and pave way for the production of these lesser cost solar vehicles.
“If passed by the government we are intending to make a simpler kind of a car which can now be more like this but basically cheaper,” said Chomba.
Further the head of innovations Nyeri Polytechnic noted that if the government will accept their request to partner with them, the price of the car will reduce to five hundred thousand Kenya Shillings.
