energyTHEN: Solar Car

Length 0:57

Created 03.29.11

Air Date 11.28.10

Video Transcript (opens in a new window)

Well, electric cars are hot right now, but what was even hotter 50 years ago? A solar electric car. A scientist in England put those two ideas together when he attached 26 square feet of solar cells to the roof of his 1912 Baker electric. Check out this ' newsreel from 1960 on the world's first solar car.

[NARRATOR] Well, this is the world's first solar car, powered by a 10,000-cell panel on the roof brought over from the United States by scientist and pioneer in this sphere Dr. Charles Escoffery, to illustrate the potential of solar energy. The silicon cells convert heat into electric power, which is then stored in the car's batteries, and with the present roof panel, it takes between 8 and 10 hours of sunlight to provide enough power for an hour's driving at 20 miles an hour.

The world's first solar-powered car that a person could drive was built in the 1950s and shown to the public a few years later. Charles Escoffery, a scientist and pioneer in solar energy, brought the car to England from the United States for this demonstration.

Escoffery modified an 1912 Baker electric with 10,000 silicon solar panels on the roof. The energy harnessed from the sun was stored in batteries. After sitting in the sun for 8 to 10 hours, the car was ready to roll for one hour, topping out at 20 miles per hour.

The car was intended as a demonstration of the potential of solar power. While not commercially practical, it set the stage for several later developments in solar propulsion, including full-scale prototypes, models with longer ranges and faster speeds, race cars and models that did not need battery storage.