MONTHLY NEWS
December 1997

Solar-Power Car Completes 10,000-Kilometer Run

A university research team completed a 10,000-kilometer (6,210-mile) run around Europe and the United States between July and September in a car powered by solar cells and rechargable batteries. The research team from Tokyo Denki University, led by Professor Masaharu Fujinaka, spent nearly two years developing the car by altering a commercially sold vehicle.

The car, nicknamed the Sunflower, is powered by the solar panels on its roof, as well as rechargable batteries. It can reach a maximum speed of 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour.

Fujinaka and five university students left London on July 19 and traveled through France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, from where they moved across the Atlantic to New York for a transcontinental journey that took them to Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles--their final destination, which they reached on September 26.

The car conquered the steep hills of the Alps, as well as the parched deserts of Arizona, where temperatures rose to as high as 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit). Although the car survived the trip without a problem, the drivers, Professor Fujinaka said, were wiped out by the heat.

The colorful vehicle attracted a lot of attention wherever it went. In the cities and towns they passed through, crowds gathered for a glimpse of the unusual car. Local kids were given a chance to test ride it so they could experience how a solar car differed from gasoline-powered automobiles.

Fujinaka, who's been developing solar-powered cars for the past 25 years, isn't about to stop working now. "I want to improve the performance of the solar cells to be able to produce better-quality solar cars in the future."

He also said he hoped to travel with his solar car to China, Mongolia, Russia, and Southeast Asia in the future.

Members of the Fujinaka team said they believed the successful runs would promote the development of more solar-powered cars, which would be good news for the environment since they emit no noxious fumes.

Photos: (Top) The Sunflower recharging for its next run; (middle) making its way through Paris; (above) students pose with the car in Arizona. (Masaharu Fujinaka)