Sunny Green Box: Heating tires the green way
Click above for an image gallery of the Sunny Green Box
Ever been to an automobile race? If so, you've surely noticed that every team on the grid has a pile of tires just waiting to be bolted on their race cars, and none of them goes on cold. Generally, the stacks of tires are placed inside enclosures that duct hot air directly to the tires, bringing them up to temperature so they are soft enough for racing. There's a problem, though, with this situation, and it's all about how the heat for the tires is generated. Apparently, a bunch of pollution-spewing gas burners are currently in use at the Le Mans Series, but race organizers have reportedly laid out plans to ban them.
A Swiss company called GreenGT has devised a potential solution to the problem that would emit exactly zero pollution in operation. Called the Sunny Green Box, the system would place solar panels on the roofs of the team's support trucks, which would power electric heaters that would warm the tires. At least one team, OAK Racing Team Mazda France, has already started using the Sunny Green Box with good results. Thanks for the tip, Jerome!
Gallery: GreenGT Sunny Green Box
[Source: GreenGT via CarPlatform]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vfx 10:31AM (3/22/2009)
I thought this article was going to be about tires sitting in these:
http://www.keweenawnow.com/news/energy_fair_06/images/solar_oven_cookies2.jpg
Reply
GoodCheer 4:42PM (3/22/2009)
This is a ridiculous scheme.
If you're starting with heat (sunlight is broad-spectrum heat, basically), and want to end up with heat, why on earth would you convert that heat into electricity and then back into heat. Solar thermal is not only much less expensive than solar photovoltaic, you also get more energy out of any given surface area you have to work with.
Unless, of course, photovoltaic equipment is highly subsidized, while solar thermal equipment is not. That's actually quite probable in the EU.
Reply
Phil L. 10:35PM (3/22/2009)
In this specific situation, it probably has more to do with control than efficiency: It's easier to precisely control the output temperature of an electrical system. I'm sure they need to keep their electrical system in place for cloudy race days anyway; it's simpler to combine two electrically-based systems.
Plus F1 is mostly about spiffy technology; a solar thermal system doesn't offer as many opportunities to show off...