Today we travel across the world in cars, boats and aeroplanes. Most of these vehicles use fuels, such as diesel and petrol. Burning these fuels releases harmful chemicals into the air. Solar power can keep us on the move and it causes less pollution.
Cars can fill up on sunshine.
Solar-powered cars don’t use petrol – they use sunshine. Hundreds of solar cells turn sunlight into electricity to power the car’s engine. There are even solar car races. In the American Solar Challenge, cars travel over 3,000 km across the USA, running on sunshine.
Sunlight could push spacecraft through space.
In the future, the Sun may be used to power spacecraft through space. A spacecraft would still need rockets to help it leave Earth. Once in space, sunlight would physically push on the sails to propel the craft forwards.
The Sun powers this plane.
This solar-powered aircraft is piloted by remote control. It can stay in the air for a long time to study weather patterns. The wings are covered with solar panels, providing the electricity for the aircraft’s motors. A battery provides power so the plane can fly during the night.