- Sam Elting
- Garrett Gipson
- Quincy Moreno
- Travis Hardesty
- Tyler Nichols
- Darin Meeker
With climate change being one of the most pressing world problems of our time, technologies are advancing at a rapid rate to curtail our carbon emissions before it is too late. Among these technologies are cars; specifically electric cars that do not directly emit greenhouse gases. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), transportation recently became the highest energy-consuming sector in the United States. Thus, the methods of transportation must become cleaner and more electric. Electric vehicles are already rising in popularity, and in the next half a century, millions of electric vehicles will be on the market. However, these vehicles will still need a clean energy source to stay zero emissions. Since a substantial amount of electricity generation still comes from greenhouse gas emitting sources, electric vehicles are limited in efficiency and emissions by their access to clean sources of energy. For people who want to limit greenhouse gas emissions while getting some extra miles between full charges for the electric vehicle, the solar flex system is ideal.
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve mileage between full charges of electric vehicles, a portable solar energy system is beneficial. The Flexible Solar Charging System consists of a pliable solar panel that will utilize maximum power point tracking in order to charge a high voltage battery. In addition, the system will include a LCD display that shows the user the charge status of the battery as well as the solar panel performance. Our primary goal, due to budget limitations and safety concerns, is to create a smaller scale version to charge a high-voltage bike battery that will prove the functionality of our system. The final car charging application can be achieved by scaling up the components and adding some safety measures from our base product.
The benefits of the Flexible Solar Charging System include portability, increased driving time between full charges, and zero emission energy. Users of electric vehicles using solar flex spend less on electricity for their vehicles and can produce power off-grid for trips and camping. Additionally, this system will help users lower their carbon footprint and help mitigate climate change. Currently, a full portable solar charging system, like solar flex, is not available from anyone commercially.