BANGALORE: Tata Power Solar and Manipal University today showcased the prototype of a solar electric car. The car was designed by Manipal University’s students’ twenty-seven member SolarMobile Team, in collaboration with Tata Power Solar who produced the solar panels. The project was named SERVe short for Solar Electric Road Vehicle.

The two-seater car weighs 590 Kg and the solar panels weigh just 35 kg (half the weight of conventional solar panels) and provide up to 960 watts of power. The car was designed keeping mobility and commercial viability in mind, so the solar panels have been built to fit around the car's curved shape. This enhances the aerodynamics of the vehicle and enables it to maintain a high performance. The car has a direct solar drive that maintains the cruising speed of 30kmph and is supplemented by extra power from a high-end energy storage system. The car has a top speed of 60 kmph.

S. P Giridhar Kini, associate director, Manipal University, says “We are extremely happy to see how our students have combined their passion for green energy, through the launch of SERVe. The industry-academia collaboration is the key to foster innovation among the students. Hence, working with corporates like Tata Power Solar helped our students get technical support and knowledge transfer.”

Tata Power Solar managing director and chief executive, Ashish Khanna also responded to economic times,”the project epitomizes our belief in innovation. We not only encourage innovation within our organization but also propagate university participation for this cause.”

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