Tesla Car To Go On A 9,400-Mile Journey With The Help Of Rolled-Up Printed Solar Panels

Futurism

With the rising gas prices, people are starting to look into the importance of electric cars. Tesla has led the industry in this aspect. Unfortunately, traditional cars have gas stations should they run out of power. Electric cars, on the other hand, don’t.

When you get stuck in the middle of nowhere, driving an electric car, what do you do when you run out of power? You’re left with no choice but to have it towed. Then, scientists came together and thought about rolled-up printed solar panels.

Well, don’t fret just yet because there may be hope. Scientists from Australia and Britain have come together and are currently planning to take a 9,400-mile long journey. The Tesla is set to traverse through some of the most remote regions of the world. How is this possible when batteries lose their charge eventually? It is through a plastic solar sheet that’s designed to charge the batteries along the way.


The project is called the Charge Around Australia and the team behind it is getting Australians to think about the many ways energy can become more sustainable for the users. This may help stave off fears of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere without help.

Who’s the genius behind this? The inventor of the roll-up solar panel is Paul Dastoor. He talks about the many parts of Western and Central Australia that are probably considered the most remote in the world. These places have scorching temperatures, vast distances, and a shortage of water. In fact, so harsh is the environment that it hinders comfortable human habitation. Hence, they have been devoid of crowds and are located in vastly remote areas.

They want to cover the thousands of miles in a Tesla. This is, by far, a huge undertaking for the, but it did come with some benefits because now, they have tested and placed the solar panels immediately under the most extreme conditions known to man. They tested where dirt and dust, daily rolling and unrolling, high heat, and repeated use to see if their hypothesis holds water and merits eventual recognition.

While many have considered switching to electric cars, many are still hesitant. For one, there is the steep price point to consider. But that’s not all there is to the problem. The biggest issue they have is is “range anxiety” and a lack of charging stations in many of the areas around the world. As an answer to this dilemma, some companies have invented mobile charging packs. While these offer help and may get a big sigh of relief from the customers, these packs are somewhat slow, extremely expensive, and are constantly exposed to getting stolen.


The answer to the conundrum may be found in solar panels. These are printed by a machine that is used to make wine labels. The best part is that they only cost around $3.33 per square foot. These panels are made up of a transparent solar electrode laminated in PET plastic. Dastoor’s wine-label has the appropriated technology and his team has been given permission to print around a third of a mile, or half a kilometer of solar cell strips each day for this project.

Charge Around Australia is a 84-day journey that include stops at around 70 schools. They are set to give talks on the technology, how this helps prevent climate change, and what people from all over can do to help stop the climate from deteriorating.

The team has hopes in catching Tesla founder Elon Musk’s attention and that he will think that the project was really cool for “showing how our innovative technology is now combining with his developments to develop new solutions for the planet”, Dastoor told Reuters.

 

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