The Georgia Tech Solar Jackets, a student organization, has successfully converted a 2001 Audi TT from a gas-powered sports car to a solar-assisted electric vehicle (SAEV) - the first of its kind.
According to Solar Jackets member Corbin Klett, the car runs on a combination of batteries and solar power. Light-weight solar cells coat the car's roof and hood. The solar ray provides 12 volts of power to support the power windows, the radio, the brakes, the power steering, and all lights. "Right now, electric cars don't use solar cell batteries to do this," said Klett.
Each day, many students cross the Fifth Street Bridge not thinking much of the downtown connector that exhales exhaust below; but a few are working to electrify the cars that pass beneath.
In a competition
hosted by the City of Atlanta and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School,
a team of Georgia Tech students earned first prize and a monetary award for
proposing a system for electric vehicle adoption in Atlanta.