Bhubaneswar: Two students of Bhadrak Institute of Engineering and Technology (BIET) at Barapada in Odisha’s Bhadrak district have succeeded in running a two-wheeler (scooty) entirely on solar power.
The innovation, the students claimed, will enable the automobile manufacturers to roll out eco-friendly solar vehicles and thereby help the country save a lot of money otherwise spent on fossil fuel.
The two students Prakash Chandra Ghadei and Rajkumar Upadhyay, fourth year students of mechanical stream, modified an ordinary moped by equipping it with a four 12-volt batteries which can be charged by three solar panels attached to the rear of the bike.
The bike after the modifications weighs 140 kg. Once fully charged, the bike carrying two persons can travel a distance of 110 km at a maximum speed of 30 kmph under ideal riding conditions.
“On Saturday, we took our modified two-wheeler out for a spin on the Barpada-Bhadrak road. People on the road cheered us as the vehicle went by. It was a great moment for us,” said Prakash and Rajkumar.
A striking feature of the prototype two-wheeler is that the solar panel will recharge the batteries automatically if it is parked directly under the sun. One can also choose to top up the batteries by plugging them into an electricity point.
“Our bike is different from the existing electric bikes in the market as it can be charged directly through solar power. All electric bikes need to be recharged with electricity, which in turn is derived from non-renewable sources such as coal,” said the students.
The entire project cost the students Rs 90,000. The students said they were thankful for their teachers who help them guide in the project.
