Z. Taha, J.M. Sah, R. Passarella, R.A.R. Ghazilla, N. Ahmad, Y.H. Jen, T.T. Khai, Z. Kassim, I. Hasanuddin, and M. Yunus (Malaysia)
Off-the-shelf parts, solar vehicle, sustainable design.
A solar car which uses solar energy to charge its batteries has been designed and built at the Centre for Product Design and Manufacture (CPDM), University Of Malaya. The vehicle main body structure is made of aluminium. Most of the mechanical components are common parts available off-the-shelf. The electrical components such as the solar panels and batteries are available in the local market. However, the DC motor, its controller and the maximum power point trackers (MPPT) are manufactured in other countries. The process of combining these mechanical and electrical components is not an easy task especially at the design stage because of the individual part specific characteristic and function. Since the development cost is one of the major constraints for this project, the sustainable design concept was implemented. Suitable parts which can be easily recycled and re-used, with desired functions that contribute to vehicle optimum performance are properly selected. This paper describes the integration of the off-the-shelf mechanical and electrical components for the solar vehicle. The conceptual design and the performance of the prototype are also presented.
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