|
Solar golf cart can be used as a generator
Palm Beach Post
BY KIMBERLY MILLER FAU is hoping to cash in on three things Florida has a lot of — golf carts, sunshine and hurricanes. A new solar powered golf cart created by a Florida Atlantic University electrical engineering professor and a graduate student will not only get you to that early morning tee time, but also doubles as a generator when the lights go out after a storm. FAU has filed for a patent on the invention, which took Professor Roger Messenger and graduate student Max Saelzer about seven months to create. The school wants to sell the product to a manufacturer, allowing the university and the inventors to profit from its merchandising. "The money is the icing on the cake," said Steve Nappi, an assistant director in FAU's Office of Technology Transfer. "The real goal is to move the technology from the laboratory to the marketplace." Inventors say the solar powered golf cart is unique because it has automatically adjusting solar cells that will search out the strongest rays of the sun. It's the first time, they believe, that a golf cart has been outfitted with the auto-adjusting cells. It also is the only solar-powered golf cart that can become a power generator for appliances such as the refrigerator, electric lights or even a lawn mower. A special array of photovoltaic cells mounted on the vehicle also allows it to capture five times as much energy from the sun as previous models. It can run a handful of lights, a refrigerator and a television for several hours when used as a generator, Saelzer said, and, he added, can extend a golf game by at least two holes. "Just look at the number of golf carts at homes and schools here in South Florida. They are all over the place," Saelzer said. "The potential for retrofitting some of them so they can run on solar energy is great." FAU may not know for several years if it will get the patent for the vehicle. Saelzer said he is optimistic it will come through and hopes the invention will help lessen the country's reliance on gasoline-powered vehicles and generators. "We need to look for renewable sources of energy," Saelzer said. "This is a small step toward reducing our dependence on foreign oil." |