Sunshine on Wheels

It might sound a little cheesy,but we are creating tomorrow's cars by using today's technology," says....

Nos Gwawr,an award-winning solar car from UK,makes its way to the city’s British Library

It might sound a little cheesy,but we are creating tomorrow’s cars by using today’s technology,” says Thomas Boddington,24,from Glywndwr University,Wales,UK as he parks his award-winning solar car – Nos Gwawr – right in the middle of British Library lobby in Sector 9. “Who would’ve thought that steel would turn out to be the cheapest raw material to put a solar car together!” adds Boddington,a mechanical engineer who took up project Nos Gwawr a year back as part of his PhD.

Inspired by his professor Graham Sparey Taylor,Boddington,along with Taylor,designed the car and entered it in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge 2007,where it won the Environmental Awareness Award. “Ours was the cheapest and best design,” he explains,thanks to the use of steel,low carbon-intensive material and reusable raw material. “While the other teams put in tyres worth 4,000 pounds,we used five pound worth tyres of a kid’s cycle! We ended up making a car that was cheap,accessible and that anyone could put together,” he added.

Boddington’s total cost came to about 300 pounds,while other teams invested millions. “This car is for the middle-class,who contribute to high carbon emissions and need a technology within their budget.”

The solar car has already made its way to IIT campuses at Kharagpur,Delhi and Kanpur. Boddington is now putting together a five meter-long solar car for the World Solar Challenge in June. “This one will deliver 1,000 miles per hour compared to the current model that delivers 40 miles per hour and has a 450-watt motor. The idea is to inspire the youth,researchers and builders to use this technology in lowering carbon emissions and making our planet a greener place to drive in,” he adds.

At the library,Boddington is scheduled to participate in a talk on Electric Cars or Flying Saucers: The Real Challenge to Solar Challenge Racing. Along with him are Dr G.S. Gujral,Head Science,Environment and Technology (India& Sri Lanka) and Natasha Samantha,a student-filmmaker who has been documenting the entire solar-powered journey. “We have a whole team in place: arts,media,business so that more and more people can know about it,” says Boddington. “The truth is we’ll soon run out of fossil fuels and urgently need to do something about it.”

For more,log on to http://www.solarcarwales.co.uk.

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