Abstract

A prototype is designed to study the connection between solar cell and supercapacitor to run a
DC motor. The prototype contains a 18v solar panel, 400 uf 2.7v supercapacitor (4 pieces), a 12v
DC motor connected in series and parallel .This is to study the difference in performance of
battery and supercapacitor. Solar panel is used to recharge continuously using sunlight which is
renewable energy.
1. Introduction
Solar power to produce electricity is not the same as using solar to produce heat. Solar thermal
principles are applied to produce hot fluids or hot air. Photovoltaic principles are used to produce
electricity. A solar panel( PV panel) is made of the natural elements,silicon,which can be charged
when subjected to sunlight (Dorf& Bishop, 2001). It means the solar panel will convert the
chemical energy to electrical energy. The best orientation of PV panel is 0 due to the location of
Ipoh, Malaysia(4.6N, 101.1E). The orientation of the PV panel is inclined 10 from the 0 to
avoid in rain water clog and dust collection (Roger & Jerry, 2008).
2. Design & Development
To use the solar motor, the user must first assemble all the components used to become a
machine as in figure 1. The solar panel will harvest the solar energy from the sun and converts it
to electrical energy to charge the supercapacitors until it is full. User can run the geared motor by
connecting the output of supercapacitors array to the motors input wires.

Figure 1: Arrangement of components.

Solar driven motor is a new way of replacing devices or vehicles which uses motor with the aid
of supercapacitors which replaces battery. The solar panel which has a rating of 18V,10W is
connected to the 4 supercapacitors ,each with 2.7V 400F are connected in series and parallel
connection to achieve a capacitance of 1000F and a voltage of 6.7V in total is the connected to
the voltage booster to step up the voltage to 12V. It is then connected to the Geared motor with
rating of 12V, 0.6A and rotating with 300RPM.

Recharge the 18V

solar panel
Rectifier
diode
4
supercapacitors,eac
h with 2.7V 400F
Voltage booster

DC Geared
Motor
Rotate the sprocket

Figure 2: Solar Driven Motor Principle

Conclusion
This prototype is a green project which uses renewable energy. It is a study to replace the use of
battery in electric bicycle. Sunlight is the main energy source and the solar panel is the key to
convert sunlight to electrical energy. The running time of the DC motor still can be improved.

The improvement for this project are to replace current solar panel with high efficiency solar
panel. Besides, a huge storage of supercapacitor is needed to run the load (DC motor).

Reference

"Photovoltaic System Pricing Trends Historical, Recent, and Near-Term Projections, 2014
Edition" (PDF).NREL. 22 September 2014. p. 4.Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
Dorf, R ,& Bishop, R,(2001). Modern Control System, Prentice Hall International, New Jersey,
USA.
Ho, J.; Jow, R.; Boggs, S. (Jan 2010). "Historical Introduction to Capacitor Technology"
(PDF).IEEE Elect.Insul. Mag. (IEEE) 26 (1): 2025. doi:10.1109/mei.2010.5383924.
Conway, B. E. (1999). Electrochemical Supercapacitors: Scientific Fundamentals and
Technological Applications. Berlin: Springer. pp. 18. ISBN 978-1-4757-3058-6.