Tesla to be powered by printed solar panels for lap of Australia

A Tesla Model 3 will soon be driven around the coast of Australia, powered only by printed solar panels.

The Charge Around Australia project will embark on the 15,000km journey in September, harvesting the sun’s energy using a new type of low-cost solar panel to charge the Tesla, with the 18 metre roll of solar panels requiring around six hours to charge the Model 3.

Unlike traditional panels, the innovative printed panels use a lightweight PET plastic – similar to the material used to make soft drink bottles – coming in at around $13.50 per square metre.

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Above: Prof Paul Dastoor and the printed solar panel.

A commercial printer normally used for creating wine labels has been repurposed to print the solar panels.

"This is actually an ideal testbed to give us information about how we would go about using and powering technology in other remote locations, for example, in space," Prof Paul Dastoor, one of the inventors of the technology, told Reuters.

Charge Around Australia (CAA) is the brainchild of Stuart McBain, a British accountant and businessman with an interest in sustainable technologies, who has partnered with the University of Newcastle in NSW for the road trip.

CAA will include a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) roadshow, which will visit schools in remote and regional areas of the country.

To learn more about the project, visit the website by CCC website.