The Quiet Achiever
The Quiet Achiever, also known as the BP Solar Trek, was the world's first practical solar-powered car built to be driven by a person for long distances and powered solely by photovoltaic solar cells with no other back-up power source (i.e. grid-charged batteries or a gasoline engine).[1] The custom car performed the first transcontinental journey driven by a person using only a photovoltaic solar cell source in 1983.[2] The Australian project was promoted by Hans Thostrup, and engineered by the car's driver Larry Perkins and his brother Garry.[3]
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[edit] Description
The BP Solar Trek was a custom hand-built solar-powered car, also known as a "photovoltaic car" or "PV car".[4] The body skin was made of fiberglass and was white. The skeleton framework was steel tubing, similar to what might be used in lightweight aircraft. The car had a large curved frontal window for the driver to see through. The sides also had similar windows of clear fiberglass. The words "SOLAR TREK" were painted in green below the windshield on both sides of the vehicle, and the words "The Quiet Achiever" were painted below the rear windows on each side of the vehicle. The vehicle had a photovoltaic power system rated at 1 kilowatt, which powered it to achieve an average speed of 14 miles per hour (23 kilometres per hour).[5] The large panel array of solar cells that powered the car made up its roof; this consisted of two rows of ten 36-cell solar panels that were joined together, giving a total roof area of about 91 square feet (approximately 8.5 square meters).[6]
[edit] History
Thostrup initially had the idea of auto racing using solar energy because he was interested in conserving non-renewable resources. British Petroleum (BP) sponsored the 1982-83 project. Thostrup, along with Perkins, drove the car from Perth to the Sydney Opera House. The car traveled over 2500 miles (4000 kilometers) in under 20 days; by contrast, the first gasoline car took 30 days to do the same circuit.[7][8]
The success of The Quiet Achiever trek led Thostrup to found the annual World Solar Challenge race in Australia in 1987. All entrants in the World Solar Challenge run entirely on photovoltaic cell-devices such as solar panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity. The World Solar Challenge is widely considered to be the world championship of solar car racing.[8][9][10]
The Quiet Achiever is now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.[11]
[edit] Team
The team that built the The Quiet Achiever / BP Solar Trek and escorted its journey were:
- Hans Tholstrup, promoter.
- Larry and Garry Perkins (brothers), the engineers who constructed The Quiet Achiever.
- Tom Snooks, the project co-ordinator.
- Roger Goudy, the BP Australian general manager, government and public affairs manager.
- Stephen Symes, Confederation of Australian Motor Sport monitor from Perth to Cocklebiddy.
- Steuart Snooks, Confederation of Australian Motor Sport monitor from Cocklebiddy to Little Topar.
- Mary Mullins, Confederation of Australian Motor Sport monitor from Little Topar to Sydney.
- David Flatman, in charge of crew filming.
[edit] Route
The route the Quiet Achiever took was a 2560 mile (4,130 km) course starting at the western edge of Australia at Scarborough Beach (a suburb of Perth) and finishing at the east end at Sydney. The trek went through Southern Cross near Perth and went to Coolgardie, Norseman, Cocklebiddy, Eucla, Ceduna, Port Augusta, Peterborough, Broken Hill, Wilcannia, Narromine, Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst and Katoomba, eventually ending at the Sydney Opera House.[12] The route itself is sometimes referred to as the solar trek. Indigenous people of the Nullarbor Plain gathered, traveling from hundreds of miles away, just to get a glimpse of this new innovative vehicle. There were buses full of tourists taking photographs as the car drove by. Large groups mobbed the viewing areas just to get a quick glance and take a picture of the solar-powered apparatus.[13] On the last day people by the tens-of-thousands came to the roadside to see The Quiet Achiever solar car as it approached the Sydney Opera House.[12]
When the journey started at Scarborough Beach, a bottle of water from the Indian Ocean was obtained. This bottle of Indian Ocean water was carried across Australia, before finally being ceremoniously poured into the Pacific Ocean at Sydney. It symbolized two large oceans being joined by solar power. Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) monitored the journey all the way to be sure that just the sun's rays were used to power the vehicle.[13]
[edit] Precursors
One of the precursors that inspired Thostrup and Perkins was a solar-powered automobile model called the Sunmobile, which was publicly demonstrated in Chicago, USA in 1955. It was a 15-inch (380 mm) model built by William G. Cobb of the General Motors Corporation, and consisted of 12 selenium photoelectric cells which used solar energy (or a strong light source) falling on them to create electric current to power a tiny electric motor. It was on exhibit at the General Motors Powerama. The $7,000,000 event that displayed the Sunmobile covered over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of display area on the shore of Lake Michigan at Chicago, and was visited by over 2,500,000 people.[14][15]
Another precursor that inspired Thostrup and Perkins was a model 1912 Baker electric car that was customized to run on photovoltaic energy in 1958. However, the International Rectifier Corporation didn't actually display the car until 1962. It was built with over 10,000 individual solar cells which were mounted on the roof. It had a battery back-up system and could only operate over short distances.[16]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (May 2011) |
- ^ First Solar Cars
- ^ Anzovin, p. 186 The first transcontinental trip by a solar-powered vehicle was completed by Hans Tholstrup and Larry Perkins in the Solar Trek, a custom car powered by a 1 kilowatt photovoltaic array mounted on the hood, roof, and trunk. In 1983 the Solar Trek drove from Perth to Sydney, Australia, covering 2500 miles (about 400 kilometers) in less than 20 days.
- ^ The Quiet Achiever - The vehicle
- ^ William Cobb demonstrates first solar-powered car model
- ^ More Key Steps in Photovoltaic History
- ^ BP Solar Trek description
- ^ SEIA report on solar energy
- ^ a b History of Solar Energy
- ^ Solar History
- ^ Solar technology
- ^ BP Solar Trek vehicle known as the 'The Quiet Achiever', National Museum of Australia
- ^ a b The Route
- ^ a b The Journey
- ^ More Key Steps in Photovoltaic History
- ^ TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY
- ^ First Solar car inspirations
[edit] Sources
- Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts 2000, item # 3207, H. W. Wilson Company, ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
