From News24 via Tech Central

Solar panels? Check. Lithium-ion batteries? Check. 3D printer for spares? Check. A group of university students and lecturers are on a road trip of a different kind as they travel over 4 000km to test their solar powered car the Ilanga II fuelled on nothing but good old sunshine.

“It can do up to 140km/h,” says Nickey Janse van Rensburg, who lectures mechanical engineering at the University of Johannesburg’s Energy Movement lab.

“Because we don’t have a lot of sun today we are doing 90km/h,” she said from the convoy snaking toward the Northern Cape town of Kimberley to show off the vehicle named after the Zulu word for sun.

And every time they stop, they draw a crowd of people keen to see what can be done by a group of bright sparks looking for clean green alternatives.

Resembling a cross between a space pod and a yacht, the aerodynamic lines of the orange and white Ilanga II draws delighted crowds wherever she pulls up. And that is exactly what the university wants — for people in the towns and rural villages along the route to see how green technology can be used in everyday life.

The Ilanga II could even be plugged into a wall like a cellphone, if needed, to charge.

The Solar Car Project promotes the study and development of efficient energy use, environmental awareness, energy management and innovative engineering.

On Thursday, the residents of Klerksdorp who arrived with their children at the team’s leg-stretching and system-tweaking stop at the Mitsubishi garage were intrigued by what they saw. Her “engine” is 300 lithium-ion batteries which work almost like cellphone batteries, and almost 1 000 business card-sized thin solar panels.

Along the route, even mayors have come out to welcome the team which is happy to explain how everything works and tell people about other ways of using “green” technology in their everyday life.

And of course, everyone wants to see some laps and they are not disappointed. And then it’s go time again.

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