Designing Your Own Solar Models
You can design and build an almost endless number of solar vehicles
and devices, such as this tower crane.
Multiple Possibilities
If you have built all the models in this book, you are
a real solar engineer. You know lots of ways the solar
engine can be used and you have learned the function
of all the components in the kit.
But the models that you have built are by no means
all the things you can make with the solar engine and
the other components. You could also, for example,
build a tall crane, a fan, or a spaceship. Let your
imagination run free and invent your own models. In
all cases, the important things are that the construc-
tion is stable and the drive systems run smoothly.
Stable Construction
Above all, be sure that your models have a stable
construction. Nothing is more frustrating than when
a model falls apart as soon as you try to use it. That is
particularly true for large models. Be sure to stabilize
the building components sufficiently (see p. 55). For
models that are not mobile, it is always a good idea
to use a base plate as a foundation. It gives the model
stability. When assembling a model, it goes without
saying that you should never try to jam components
together by force or bend them. If two pieces aren’t
connecting or inserting easily, then you’ve construct-
ed something wrong. You can always find a different
way to do it.
Smooth-running
Drive Systems
With all drive systems, it is important that they run
smoothly. Chains must be neither too loose nor too
tight. The sprockets holding a chain should be lined
up exactly. Otherwise, the chain will easily twist and
your model won’t work well.
The same goes for gear drives: the gear wheels have
to mesh with the right distance between them. Only
then will everything work well and utilize the solar
engine’s full power.
Once you have finished constructing your drive sys-
tem, before building anything else you should check
to make sure that everything runs well. Hold the
engine up to the light and make sure that some con-
struction detail or other isn’t placing too heavy a load
on it. That can happen, for example, with a car design
that has ended up carrying too much weight.
Drivable models run well when they drive on four tires
(15) or on a caterpillar track (see p. 24). Gear and
sprocket wheels don’t work well as driving wheels,
because the solar engine would have to expend too
much force to move them over the ground.
That’s it! Have fun constructing and building!
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