In-wheel motor for solar electric vehicles: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

This research paper deals with the challenges and opportunities of in-wheel motors for solar electric vehicles. Since pollution and energy conservation is a major concern, therefore, to carry out this demand it is quite necessary to make a new exploration of natural resource of energy and power. Therefore, sunlight at present is considered a source of energy. Hub motors are safe, high performance, cost-efficient. After the energy is stored in the batteries, it is available for use by the motor & motor controller to drive the car. The in-wheel motor is based on the principle of a DC electric motor to drive the vehicle wheels so that the mechanical components like differential and the energy loss are minimized. In addition, the method lowers the maintenance cost. The purpose of this paper is to compare Brush Less Direct Current (BLDC) motor and in-wheel motor. A microcontroller is used for a purpose that it can change the speed of individual hub motor so that the car does not drag-off while taking a sharp turn and can also switch to the fully recharged battery when it senses that another battery is empty or not providing enough power to drive the motor. A complete different circuit is made to get away from voltage problem due to movement of sun, earth or cloud etc. However, after all these being proceeded, the motor controller adjusts the amount of energy that flows to the motor to correspond to the throttle. The motor uses that energy to drive the wheels. Our aim is to bring solar electric vehicle on roads as fast as possible.