In yet another bid to lessen gas emissions, help fight climate change and just work towards a more sustainable future, a group of student from the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have built the very first solar powered mobile home.
The 22 Dutch university students took their invention on the road, completing an 1,800-mile road trip, which was incredibly powered completely by the sun. Their goal was to show that there is a way to travel the world using sustainable vehicles that won’t cause any harm to the environment.
The van, which has been named Stella Vita, has a solar panel roof and a set of wings fitted with additional panels that fold out when the vehicle is parked. Because of this, the team managed to double their solar surface to 17.5 square meters – which is approximately 188 square-feet – providing them with enough energy to both drive and live on.
On a bright and sunny day, Stella Vita can travel up to 453 miles, which is around 730 kilometers, in a 24-hour period, and can even reach a speed of 75 miles per hour. Despite its size, it has also been deemed road legal and has been given a license plate as well.
When parked, the vehicle’s roof can pop up, allowing its users to stand inside while they cook. Comfortably fitting at least two adults, it is also fitted with a kitchen and fridge, a bed, shower and toilet, and even a seating area.
As the website mentions, “Stella Vita is a self-sustaining house on wheels. Through solar panels on the roof, it is independent of charging stations.” Regardless, it is fitted with an electric power charger in case of an emergency.
According to the team of students that built it, the vehicle generates enough solar energy to be able to drive, make coffee, watch TV, charge your laptop, and shower.
It only took the team a year to successfully design and build this amazing solar powered mobile home, completing their demonstration road trip that took off from Eindhoven and ended at the southern tip of Spain.
Moreover, the drivers and passengers can track how much energy they have used, as well as see how much is remaining to plan out their drives better. One report shared that ‘it has a 60 kilowatt-hour battery that allows it to travel 373-miles at night.’
Team coordinator, Dr. Carlo van der Weijer, explained to The Guardian, “On a cloudy day the vehicle can still produce 60-70% of the energy. And even if there is no sun at all, you still have an efficient, normal electric car that you can charge from a charging point.”
Notably, this isn’t the very first solar powered vehicle that the University team students and faculty, that work under the handle Solar Team Eindhoven, have made. The first one was launched during their first year, back in 2012, when they pioneered the building of another solar powered family car name Stella.
Aside from Stella, they’ve had other successors such as the Stella Lux, Stella Vie, and the 5-seater Stella Era, all of which were raced in the World Solar Challenge that took place in Australia. They won in the Cruiser Class every time the competition was held, which was in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. Because it was the only competing “family car” with a license plate, having a road registration for the Stella cars was a huge contributing factor to their winning score.
In order to promote this amazingly practical solar vehicle concept and bring it to a broader scale globally, the Solar Team Eindhoven has set up a nonprofit foundation. In fact, back in 2017, a few of the students that were part of the original concept team launched their very own startup, creating a commercially viable version of the car they named Lightyear One. The four-passenger solar car, which will reportedly cost around $127,000 a unit, is scheduled to be released this year.
Check out the following video of Stella Vita’s European road trip in the video below.
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