- Title: PHILIPPINES: Students unveil solar solution to Manila pollution
- Date: 1st February 2010
- Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT SIKAT BEING EXHIBITED IN MALL SIKAT ON PLATFORM STEERING WHEEL AND LCD SCREEN COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN ADVISOR BYRON OMBOY LIFTING CAR FRAME CAR SEAT ONLOOKER TRYING CLUTCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BYRON OMBOY, COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN ADVISOR FOR SIKAT TEAM, SAYING "Solar energy really is still far ahead,
- Embargoed: 16th February 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Philippines
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Science / Technology
- Reuters ID: LVA980U9WJYCM8NIMQFUADU9I3OX
- Story Text: A group of engineering students dared to imagine the future of automobiles, and created a solar-powered set of wheels they call Sikat (Filipino word for "shine").
Sikat is not your ordinary sedan. It is a race car with a flat body, a narrow single seat, and three wheels the size of a big pizza.
It is powered by solar radiation converted to electricity via solar cells.
The car can run up to eight hours or a distance of 400 kilometres on a single charge, running at 80 kph. When the solar-powered battery is used, it can drive as far as 933 kilometers at 110 kph.
"The solar cells absorb the radiation from the sun, converts it to electricity, and it will be stored by a battery. The battery is lithium iron phosphate battery, and then the battery will drive the motor," said Byron Omboy, an engineering faculty member at De La Salle University and computer-aided design advisor for the Sikat Team.
The idea behind a flat body is for the 386 solar cells to gain maximum exposure to the sun. The greater the area charged, the more electricity produced.
The nearly 600 battery cells in Sikat can enable the car to run at night or when it rains.
The car designers needed to strike a balance between sun exposure and aero-dynamics, which the car must rely on as it has no fuel engine to boost its power. A light shell in the shape of a teardrop, made of fiber glass and carbon fiber skin, also makes it more aero-dynamic.
Students and professors from De La Salle University comprise the Sikat team who worked on the slick vehicle for a year.
"From a regular car it's not that different. It's like an automatic vehicle, there's no clutch. You only have the gas and the brake.
Driving it is quite easy," mechanical engineering student Carl Mamawal said.
Like most solar-powered cars, Sikat is not yet viable for mass production. The team will take it to Australia to race in the World Solar Challenge in 2011.
It follows the success of Sinag (Filipino word for "sun ray"), a similar car that placed 12th in the 2007 World Solar Challenge, and also developed by engineering students and faculty from De La Salle University. Sikat is lighter, smaller and more aerodynamic than Sinag.
As Sikat tours schools and malls around the Philippines this month, its creators seek to promote the use of solar power and other renewable sources of energy in daily life.
Costly and relatively inefficient, solar energy has yet to break significantly into the mainstream Philippine market. An 80-watt panel system that can power a handful of light bulbs for six hours can cost 70,000 pesos (1500 U.S. dollars).
"Solar energy really is still far ahead, probably around, at the latest would be 60 to 80 years from now, due to the efficiency of the solar cells. It's only 21 percent efficient. If you have very low efficiency, the structure of the car, the chassis, should be very light," Omboy said.
A more practical size and shape for a solar-powered car has yet to be invented, but Sikat has generated curiousity among a more environment-conscious public.
"Right now, having a solar powered car is not really very practical. Now that is due to the limitation of the technology. Like for example, in Sikat, we take six square metres of space just to produce 1200 watts. And this will only be able to take a single passenger. And that's roughly equivalent to the power that you need to be able to iron your clothes," engineering professor and assistant technical team head for Sikat, Jack Catalan said.
With the Philippines among the top carbon emitters in Southeast Asia, solar-powered automobiles could bring a welcome relief in Manila's polluted streets. Developed by renewable energy advocates, electric cars are becoming increasingly popular as an alternative mode of public transport in several cities.
"This one, unfortunately, still lacks space. Hopefully there will be a car like this available to the public. It's going to be really helpful to lessen our carbon footprint," said Catherine Anne Pahimula, a volunteer for World Wildlife Fund.
Last December, the government created a climate change commission to formulate green policies and to monitor the Philippines' compliance with the Copenhagen agreement.
Sikat's creators say the government should create incentives that would encourage the use of renewable energy and give a boost to the young industry.
"What the government could do to help people who want to make use of solar energy, for example, when they set up solar sets in their homes, is to give discounts or give incentives to the consumers who would be buying this solar equipment," Catalan said.
The World Solar Challenge, where Sikat will participate, is a car race across the Australian Outback. It attracts teams from around the world, mostly from universities or corporations.
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