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Less than 200 years ago, people started using fuels like oil and coal for powering transportation. These fuels aren’t going to last forever and they cause air pollution. Fossil fuels won’t last forever because these fuels are non-renewable sources for energy, and fossil fuels come from dead and fossilized animals and plants. But with new technology, there are new ways we can use solar energy to move around and decrease air pollution.

Model solar powered cars have some parts that are similar to a fuel-run car of today, but they were very different. One of our friends will help explain how sunlight powers a solar car on a trip. "Hi, I’m Mike and I’ll help you learn how sunlight powers a solar car. But first I should tell you that I’m not a human, I’m really a sun ray. Are you ready to go on the trip to learn about solar cars? Ready get set, go, here we go! Right now we just hit a solar panel. A solar panel is a metal board with solar cells which turns solar energy into electrical power. The electrical power is transmitted by a wire, which is connected to the motor, causing a drive shaft to turn. A drive shaft is a pipe-like axle connected to the wheel causing the wheel to spin. The spinning wheel causes the car to move in a certain direction."

Since a full-size racecar’s solar panel is much larger than a solar family car’s, it can capture more solar energy, which is turned into electricity. Solar race cars have a battery that stores some of the sun’s energy while the car is stopped or driving slowly, causing no reason to re-charge. If the car is driving fast using all the power the solar panel can give, then the motor would use all the extra energy stored in the battery.