Solar Electric Motor Projects

You can complete many projects to demonstrate or familiarize yourself with solar power and how it works. The majority of these projects simply revolves around replacing a standard electrical machine's normal power source with a solar panel or an array of solar panels. You can rig anything that normally runs on electrical power to run on solar power, or simply build a solar-powered machine of your own.

Toy Solar Car

For a popular solar project incorporating an electric motor, create a toy car powered by solar energy. Use a lightweight base, such as an old soda bottle, for the body of the car. Attach the solar panel directly to an electric motor, then attach the motor to the drive wheel of the car. (Use pre-existing kit parts for this for the easiest project, although you can also make your own parts if necessary.) Connect the wheels to the body, and place the car out in the sun, where it will drive forward under its own power.

Perfect for hot days on the beach, a solar-powered fan provides a relatively easy project. Find a fan of the appropriate size, whether a large box fan or a simple handheld model, and splice the wires from the panels into the electrical wire for the fan. Keep in mind that you'll need large enough solar panels to run the size of fan you need. The bigger the fan, the more power it needs and thus the bigger the required solar panels. If you intend to make the fan portable, keep the fan small.

For the ultimate in portability, simply attach homemade paper or plastic fan blades directly to an electric hobby motor, and run that motor off of a small set of solar panels.

Similar to building a solar-powered car, find an old plastic child's tub toy boat for a base. This will ensure that it at least floats and won't tip over and dunk your precious solar panels. Attach a hobby-sized electric motor to it in a place where it won't get wet. Rig up a drive train from the motor to a propeller, which you can either scavenge or make out of thin plastic. (Some kit-built toys that operate on electric motors will work perfectly for this drive train.) Attach the solar panels to the motor, and put the boat in the water.