Solar on the Move, Literally

By Peggy Hammond    April 27, 2018

At ISS, we develop utility-scale solar farms and are proud to be part of the solar industry.  We’re always interested to hear of emerging applications of solar energy; harnessing the power of the sun is changing our lives, and each day brings more evidence of this.

The news about solar cars got more interesting earlier this year.  The Dutch startup company Lightyear has already won an award for their design of a car that is fully solar powered.  The car is called Lightyear One, and the company anticipates releasing 10 in 2019.  Lightyear One charges itself, is built to go for months, and travel distances up to 500 miles without needing a charge.  If a driver takes a longer trip, the car can be charged with an ordinary outlet, eliminating the need for a charging station.

There’s more happening with solar transportation than just cars.  At the end of 2017, Australia began using a fully solar-powered train that runs between the resort Elements of Byron and the township of Byron Bay, a distance just under two miles.  Putting the train into service came on the heels of eight years of planning.  The train, which can accommodate 100 passengers, has 6.5kW of panels which were customized to fit the curvature of the train’s top.  The panels in turn charge a large lithium battery.  In addition, at one of the stops, the train shed has a 30kW array on its roof, giving the train one more way to maintain its power supply.

Solar energy is the future, and the world is embracing this reality.  ISS is pleased to do our part to bring the sun’s clean energy to more cities and towns.  To learn more about working with ISS on utility-scale solar farm development, see our website at www.innovativesolarsystemsllc.com or call John Green (CEO) 828-215-9064.