Solar-powered Cars

From VOA Learning English,

this is the Technology Report.

Students at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa

are building solar-powered cars and racing them in competitions.

The University is training the students

to become experts in different types of energy.

Their 300-kilogram solar-powered car

is traveling at more than 100 kilometers per hour

through the South African countryside,

and it is using less electric power

than a small kitchen appliance.

The young engineers who built the car

drove it in the Solar Challenge,

a national racing competition for cars

that use alternative energy.

Kegan Smith is the former manager of the project

and a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

He says the university wants the students

to learn about green energies using realistic examples.

"With what we do at the moment in fossil fuels,

if we continue like this,

there is not going to be a future.

And if we do this kind of alternative energy,

the cars are one application.

But the nice thing with the cars

it that it's a mindset change.

If you can start shaping students' mind now,

it's going to change the mindset of people in general.

How do you use your lights?

How do you use your electricity?" explained Smith.

When he was a student in 2010,

Mr Smith was part of a group

that built a hybrid alternative-energy powered car.

Since then, students have built more cars

using both hydrogen and solar power.

Warren Larter is also a former student,

he is the university's solar car project manager.

He says he does not expect solar-powered cars

to be more popular than gasoline-powered cars,

but Mr Larter says,

they do offer an important learning tool

to help students develop new technologies.

"For us, it's a research thing.

Our exact example is Formula One.

You'll never see those cars on the road,

but the technologies that go into them,

you see it in every single car

in every single household across the world.

So that's where we are pushing it.

This is our Formula One of alternative energy," said Larter.

Warren Larter started a company

that lets students to work on projects

that private companies have expressed an interest in supporting.

He says the energy market is changing,

and there is a great need for engineers

with more modern experience.

"Locally, there is a lack of experts

in alternative energy and in particular in solar technology.

We seem to be importing a lot at this stage,

which is not ideal… We should have the experts locally,

so [a] project like this really pushes that.

We have guys working with the solar panels,

working on different aspect of the project.

So instead of importing the guys and flying them

in to work on this, we use the local guys,

so they know just as much and can even do better

than the international guys," said Larter.

Kegan Smith agrees.

"I got guys working on huge systems on the telecom sites,

because that's what they did in the cars.

So the experience they gain from the cars

are now working towards it in the industry," said Smith.

Warren Larter and his team of students

are now working on a third car

to enter into the next Solar Challenge in August 2014.

They want to win the national competition

and then compete internationally.

And that is the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.