A discussion came up a while back here on Ecofriend about the color of automobiles and whether anyone would want to drive something painted yellow. We got a variety of opinions about that, but in the end it seemed that it was performance under the hood and not so much the color that defines a machine. So before people even start cribbing about how the Solar Bike built by students of the University of Iowa Solar Club looks like a giant banana, let us consider that amateurs built a solar bike that can reach speeds of 50 mph!
In this modern world filled with fast machines, 50 mph might appear to be a joke, but in the world of solar-powered vehicles this is high-end performance. Considering that the land speed record for a solar-powered bike is 62 mph among collegiate teams, this is indeed an achievement. The group that designed the bike formed two years ago after receiving grant funding from the Iowa Energy Center to create a competitive bike. They get $14,000 annually and also help from places like World of Bikes.
Industrial engineer Daniel Rogge, the lone graduate student and captain of a fluctuating group of 10 to 20 students, believes that they can soon break both the record of 62 mph. Rogge also wishes to design a solar-powered vehicle that is ideal for urban commuting. It is nice to see colleges showing a growing interest in solar-powered modes of transportation, and hopefully this will soon manifest into something substantial in the daily life of urban commuters.
Via: Uiowa
