Applications of solar technology and polystrene material for solar boat competition Malaysia 2011 / Zulkarnain Jamak and Rafidah Abd. Karim

Green technology is a move for the future generations. This paper focuses on the efforts and experiences shared in applying green technology by using solar panels to drive the motor for the purpose of carrying the designed solar boat in the Solar Boat Malaysia 2011 competition. Promoting the use of solar energy has attracted the researchers to design the desired type of boat in terms of shape and motor capacity to facilitate the movement of the solar boat for more speed and the best design. The solar boat is designed to accommodate solar panels on the body weight of the motor boat which drives it. The speed of the solar boat is tested in several stages to ensure maximum level speed can be achieved in the Solar Boat Competition Malaysia 2011. The solar boat is studied from several aspects, especially the ability to apply solar energy to the solar panel so that its speed can be increased. Some experimental tests were also conducted which focused on the selection of materials from polystyrene, and the selection and concentration of solar panels to the experimental design boats that formed the solar model. The results found that the selection of materials from polystyrene is the fastest boat designed. Besides, the selection of heavy solar power 1OO gram and 2 Watt and the experimental results indicate that it is one of the fastest boats designed. Hence, Solar Boat Team has won fourth place in the Solar Boat Competition Malaysia 2011 on 26th May to 29th May 2011.