sorry for the late entry to this thread, but i just ot back from a weekend getaway. a much needed one i might add !!
back to the topic, i personally am a very big fan of solar energy. it is free to acquire, cheap to install and capture and has basically no emissions.
we actually utilize solar energy at our beach house for providing necessary heating. and i think that solar energy is a key factor for tomorrow's energy demands.
i think most of us have some previous experience reading about the pioneer trials made for solar based cars and hoe they can be quite practical. the main issues with solar energy however, is storing it for use during nights and unsunny days. there is not yet a truly practical way to be used for storage of solar energy. most of the stored energy gets depleted quickly enough to make it unpractical at the moment. further study and research will surely oversome this problem.
other problems facing this technology might be geographic considerations for particular regions. such as places with no considerable sun during winters and very cloudy places that could make utilising solar energy very unpredictable.
i think with the placement of solar panels on the roof, that would force all those stupid people that drive around with snow stacked on their roofs to get some exercise !!
moving on to more radical and personal thoughts. something along the lines of the Misho theory !!
isnt there some way of utilizing the actual movement of the car to generate energy ?? as a car moves we all know that its wheels spin, maybe we can sort of hook up the wheels to a generator and use their rotating action to provide some considerable energy. sort of recycling the cars kinetic energy, making a car more sustainable.
this theory is essentially what a dynamo does. it utilizes the engine's movement to spin the dynamo and generate electrical energy.
maybe we can sort of make a much highly effecient dynamo that is capable of generating enough energy to operate the electrical equipment and help the engine with some mechanical work as well.
i know it sounds very weird and strange, just give it some thoughts and tell me what u think !
----R.I.P----
"Misho Ratio"
2003 - 2004