Here comes the sun powered car

Louis Palmer has been on the road for over 14 months. He’s traveled over 28,000 miles, from Riyadh to Bombay, Sydney to Beijing, Vancouver to Los Angeles and now to NYU. But he hasn’t spent a single cent on gas.

“The Solar Taxi has arrived,” Palmer declared, upon arrival at NYU’s Silver Center on Friday, Sept. 12. The 36-year-old Swiss teacher is the pioneer of his solar-powered car: teal blue, door-less and attached to a trailer embedded with hundreds of solar cells. It’s the first motor vehicle not powered by fossil fuel to circumnavigate the world.    

Palmer’s odyssey is the realization of a childhood dream to travel the globe in a car that wouldn’t destroy the earth.

“I cannot pollute the world and try to enjoy a beautiful world,” he said.

When Palmer arrived shortly after 1 p.m., unaccompanied by his usual team, there were a dozen or so people outside Silver, undeterred by the steady drizzle of rain that had begun to fall. One of them was Jeremy Friedman, project administrator of NYU’s Sustainability Task Force. Friedman, a Gallatin alumnus, said that Palmer was the one who asked if he could visit the university.

Having led NYU’s energy conservation initiative, Friedman was pleased to welcome Palmer. “Being able to meet the people who are able to make this happen on the ground is an inspiration,” he said.

Indeed, Palmer’s revolutionary creation provides insight into the future of automobile technology, in a world that many say is undergoing an energy crisis. The Solar Taxi is powered entirely by solar energy, with 50 percent coming from the solar cells on the trailer and the other 50 percent accessed via power sockets from the roof of the Swisscom building outside Bern, Switzerland.

“Global warming can be stopped. The energy crisis can be overcome,” Palmer said. “What I try to do is to change the minds of the people.”

Palmer said that the journey has been “the best time in my life.” He doesn’t mind being away from his family or having to spend almost every night in a different place, so long as he is able to accomplish his goal of showing that solar energy is reliable. Both the tour director and taxi driver, Palmer is modest about his achievements, but still speaks with conviction about his hopes.

“Battery technology is getting stronger,” he said. “We have to come away from the idea that we need a big car. This is what makes sense.”

Palmer has had few obstacles on his journey so far. There was one breakdown that slowed the team down for two days, he said. However, the car’s battery and motor are still the originals from when his world tour began in July 2007.

Though Japan did not allow Palmer to stop there, Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel producers, did. He said that government officials provided him with a police escort and “treated me like a king.”

The Solar Taxi is sponsored by Q.Cells, a German company that is the largest producer of solar cells. It has a maximum speed of 55 miles per hour.

Prior to stopping at NYU, Palmer took United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to work, eventually obtaining his autograph. His signature joins those of various famous personalities such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg and talk show host Jay Leno.

Palmer acknowledges that the solar car would be difficult to commercialize. However, he believes that a common solution would be to put solar panels on houses in the city.

As for advice for NYU, Palmer suggests the university do something to protect rainforests, in light of the amount of paper used daily.

The few students who withstood the rain to listen to Palmer praised him.

“I think it’s the future of technology,” Wagner graduate student Kanchan Banga said. “I hope it’s viable.”

NYU’s efforts to become a university fueled by “green power” have been expanded in recent years, especially in dining halls. Hayden dining hall went trayless this year, and Friedman said a compost program is currently in development for all dining halls.

Palmer’s tour will end at the World Climate Change Conference in Poland on Dec. 1. As for what he plans to do once his tour is over, Palmer has at least one idea.

“I want to race around the world — to see who is the fastest, who has the best-looking car,” he laughed.

Vanessa Liu is a contributing writer. E-mail her at university@nyunews.com.