SolarButterfly continues its journey across South Africa
The world’s largest solar-powered vehicle, the SolarButterfly, has travelled from Stellenbosch, in the Western Cape, to Wolmaransstad, in the North West, and onwards as it continues its global journey to raise awareness about global warming.
The SolarButterfly consists of a Tesla Model X EV towing a tiny house in the shape of an enormous butterfly, equipped with 40 m² of solar panels, when unfolded – hence the name.
The array of solar panels on the mobile home is able to generate 7 kW of electricity, with additional panels that can produce a further 7 kW.
Together the solar panels should provide enough electricity to power the vehicle up to a range of 220 km.
The SolarButterfly embarked on its four-year journey in May, 2022, with the goal to visit six continents and 90 countries by December this year.
Its final destination will be the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil at the end of the year.
The South African leg will end in Durban on March 10.
The vehicle visited Stellenbosch University earlier this month and then headed north, where it required a quick charge during some gloomy weather at the off-grid Wolmaransstad charging station.
“We are thrilled to have the SolarButterfly visit our first off-grid electric vehicle charging station in the country, which opened in November last year,” says Charge director Joubert Roux.
“This station, which is powered by solar energy supported by battery storage, is the perfect match for the SolarButterfly, which is also powered by the sun.”
The Wolmaransstad station forms part of a planned network of 120 off-grid Charge charging stations across the country.
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