V-tent Solar Charger Concept for Parked Cars Should become a reality

With rising costs of petroleum and its side effects on nature it is safe to say that alternate power sources like Wind, Solar, and Electric energies are the future when it comes to powering vehicles. The biggest problem in rolling out solar and electric power cars right now is unavailability of charging stations as in most parts of the world such infrastructure does not exist, and even in those parts where it is available, it isn’t anywhere close to perfect.

Now a new concept by Turkish designers called the V-tent might solve this problem. Their idea is to put a solar panel charging station at parking lots so that the cars could get charged while the owner is away. How V-tent works is pretty fascinating. The fold-able solar cover remains closed when not in use and when a car is parked under it, the solar cover unfolds and puts the car underneath itself. This not only keeps the car cool in a sunny day but also charges it using the solar energy.

The concept also features a side panel that shows how much the car is charged and a credit card slot using which driver could make the payment for the parking slot as well as the charge. The charging panel in the concept features an LED light indicator that shows the level of charge in the car. This behavior is similar to how our phone or laptop shows how much it has charged and turns the charging indicator green when fully charged. The concept also includes a way to allow users to access the charging stations using their smartphones. NFC or built-in apps could play a major role for this.

While it is just a concept I am sure it won’t take long for this to become a reality as it is what we need. Now its up to motor companies to make such products mainstream and develop good cars capable of replacing gas powered vehicles.