Talk about a bright idea! World’s first solar-powered SUV completes 620 MILE test drive across Morocco and the Sahara without charging

Stopping to refill the tank or charge during a long car journey is a constant and unavoidable frustration – but these engineering students might have done away with stops for good.

Their two-seater car, Stella Terra, has just completed a 1,000 kilometer test drive through Morocco and the Sahara without stopping once to charge.

The Stella Terra, designed by students from Eindhoven University of Technology, is described as ‘the world’s first off-road solar SUV’.

It is street legal with a top speed of 90 miles per hour (145 km/h), weighs just 1.2 tons and has a range of 440 miles on a sunny day.

Relying solely on the car’s built-in solar panels, the vehicle crossed from the northern coast of Morocco over the off-road trails of the Rif Mountains to the sand dunes of the Sahara.

Wisse Bos, the project’s team manager, said the technology behind the car’s performance was ten years ahead of anything else currently on the market.

‘Stella Terra must withstand the harsh conditions of off-road driving while remaining efficient and light enough to be powered by the sun. That is why we had to design almost everything for Stella Terra ourselves, from the suspension to the inverters for the solar panels,” says Mr Bos.

To ensure that the car could run solely on the power of the sun, the engineers had to make the chassis as light as possible.

This proved to be a major advantage when it came to off-road driving, as the lightweight construction and modified suspension meant that Stella Terra was less affected by poor surface conditions.

During the epic road trip, the only problem occurred when the steering system failed.

However, this was repairable along the way and the team was able to complete the journey.

The car also has a built-in lithium-ion battery, allowing it to travel shorter distances on less sunny days and be charged via conventional charging stations.

Mr Bos added that Stella Terra even exceeded some of the team’s expectations: it used 30 percent less energy than expected and allowed the team to drive the entire journey without using charging stations.

The power level of the solar panels was so high that there was even a surplus of energy left at the end of the day that could be used for cooking and charging appliances.

Stella Terra’s roof can be expanded into a larger canopy to improve charging efficiency while the car is stationary, or to provide shade during a roadside picnic.

The team also found that the custom-built inverter for the car’s solar panels was 97 percent efficient at converting light from the sun into electrical energy.

By comparison, the most efficient solar panels for sale are generally no more than 45 percent efficient.

Mobility expert and professor at the University of Eindhoven, Maarten Steinbuch, says he is very impressed by the team’s technical efforts.

‘Under normal circumstances it is difficult to build an energy-efficient car that can withstand tough conditions, let alone also integrate solar panels into the car. I haven’t seen anyone do that yet,” Steinbuch said.

He adds that the technology on display in the Stella Terra could have a bigger impact on the future of driving technology.

Mr Steinbuch said: ‘I expect electric cars to be part of our entire energy network in five to ten years.

‘And when the home battery is introduced, it will even become possible to generate energy via a solar car and deliver it back to your home. The innovations of Solar Team Eindhoven can change the future.’

However, to change the world, solar vehicles will first have to become commercially viable.

The Stella Terra is not designed for profit and is entirely financed through sponsorship.

The team has also said it cannot comment on how much the vehicle costs to make.

However, production costs appear to be a major problem for advanced solar vehicles.

Atlas Technologies, a company founded by graduates of the End Furnace solar program, was forced to file for bankruptcy due to a lack of sales for their €500,000 (£432,180) car.

However, the company has since relaunched as a subsidiary of Dutch company Lightyear, offering a new model that would cost $40,000 (£32,885) with a range of 500 miles (804 km) between charges.

Another problem for solar vehicles is the weather. While the design may be viable in the sunny Sahara, other climates may be less suitable.

The Sahara receives around 10 to 13 hours of sunlight every day, while the UK averages just 4.9 hours per day.

The sunlight in the Sahara is also considerably more intense than elsewhere in the world and therefore has the potential to generate more solar energy.

The region’s sunlight is so intense that there is currently a project underway to connect a solar farm in Morocco to Britain via submarine cables.

It is believed that the Guelmin Oued Noun solar power plant could provide enough energy to power seven million households by 2030.

However, solar cars can still be viable in a European climate, as an earlier team from Eindhoven demonstrated when they drove a sun-powered camper 3,000 km from the Netherlands to the southernmost point of the continent.

The Stella Vita ‘Self-Sustaining House on Wheels’ made the trip, generating enough energy to drive, watch TV, shower, charge your laptop and make coffee.