ENERGY > EGYPT
The car of the future www.enpi-info.eu Four prototype vehicles that run exclusively on solar energy are parked in the seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, at the workshop of the Airtec company. In 2008, the company received a grant from the bilateral Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) programme funded by the European Commission. And today, work has already started on modifying the electrical circuit to improve the performance of the car of the future, which runs on solar energy. Our reporter went there to test it out for herself… Text and photos: Dalia Chams SHARM EL SHEIKH - His destiny changed overnight. On 1st January 2010, Italian company Comcor and its Egyptian partner Airtec recruited a new electro-technical engineer. At the time, Ahmed Abdel-Hafez was just 30 years of age. Since then, he has been immersed in the world of solar-powered cars. “The company was looking for an electronics engineer who could speak Italian, following the sudden death of the man in charge of its project to produce vehicles suitable for solar recharging. A friend of a friend told me about it and I applied for the position. I was a bit fed up with teaching at the Don Bosco Technical Institute where I studied Italian”, he says in Airtec's workshop, located in the city of Sharm El Sheikh, at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The site is approximately 15 km from the airport, in the industrial area of Al-Rowayssat. The four prototypes built in the project financed by the bilateral Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) programme established between the European Commission and Egypt since 2007 are parked at the back of the building. A special This publication does not represent the production line was due to produce at least two models of these official view of the EC prototypes for sale in September 2012. But it was decided otherwise. or the EU institutions. EU Neighbourhood Info Centre Because there will probably be a phase II. The EC accepts no Feature no. 81 responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to its content.
Towards storage of energy produced while the car is moving Ahmed Abdel-Hafez, who in recent years has divided his time between Egypt and Italy, has been studying factory management at the University of Modena and also works at the photovoltaic unit at Comcor. The cost of his studies is being covered by the company,
This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU, prepared by journalists and photographers on the ground or the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. © 2012 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre
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"By sharing tasks with other partners they were able to develop four prototypes over a period of 18 months"
n Portrait of engineer Ahmed Abdel-Hafez
which is looking to set up a new factory near Hurghada on the Red Sea in Egypt, to manufacture solar-powered vehicles, but this time after having made some changes. “Currently, to charge the car's batteries, it has to be at a standstill. I had to make some modifications to the design and the electrical circuit, in order to store the energy produced by photovoltaic panels on the roof of the car while it is moving," reveals engineer Abdel-Hafez, adding that these changes will increase the energy supply from 270 W to 500 W. Between 2007 and 2011 the RDI programme, which is managed by the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, received 11 million euro to promote research and innovation. The programme then received an allocation of 20 million euro for the period 2011-2015. The Egyptian and Italian partners are awaiting a reply from the programme to find out whether they can rely on its aid so that they can move ahead with phase II of the solar-powered car. For the first phase of the project, the RDI programme paid approximately 75% of the budget of over 330,000 euro. But EU funding is not a grant, it has to be won by participating in calls for tender: and at the moment the project team is waiting to hear if they have won.
One of the prototypes
"Currently, to charge the car's batteries, it has to be at a standstill. But I had to make some changes in order to store energy produced when it is moving".
Four prototypes with a battery range of up to 50 km
"We have been talking to the governorate of Hurghada for the last 3 months, proposing to adapt our prototypes to the needs of their tourist resort: a sightseeing train, a boat with photovoltaic panels ..."
The Director of RDI, Ahmed Saleh, tells us how the programme can provide a platform for communication and a point of information for researchers, inventors, academics and industry: “A professor from the University of the Suez Canal, Hussein Ezz Eddine, had installed solar panels on the roof of a Fiat 128. The results were more or less satisfactory. Initially he collaborated with Egyptian company Airtec, which had obtained a grant from the EU in 2008, via the RDI programme. The company was already operating in the diving sector in Sharm El Sheikh. By sharing tasks with other partners - the Universities of Mansoura, the Suez Canal and Modena, and the company Comcor Engineering and the Royal Scientific Society of Jordan - they were able to develop the four current prototypes over a period of 18 months”. The cars don’t have a futuristic appearance, but look more like the kind of vehicle used for moving around in hotels and holiday villages. A kind of fun toy in blue and gold, the colours of the European Union flag. Their weight
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The four prototypes parked in Sharm El-Sheikh, awaiting phase II
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n Engineer Ahmed Abdel-Hafez driving one of the prototypes
varies between 300 and 800 kg. How big are they? Up to 360 cm long and 150 cm wide. The driver has an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, lights and a horn. On the roof, photovoltaic panels measuring 1.20 m x 1.40 m have been fitted. One of the prototypes has been designed for safaris; it is called the "pirate ship of the desert". And the smallest is a threewheeler called Jambo, which has a range of 10 km. The other two are used to transport goods and passengers for short journeys; their batteries are charged in 8 to 10 hours and they have a battery endurance of 40 to 50 km. "We have been talking to the governorate of Hurghada for the last 3 months, proposing to adapt our prototypes to the needs of their tourist resort: a sightseeing train, a boat with photovoltaic panels. Just to test our vehicles, which have a selling price of 80,000 EGP each (approximately €10,700 EUR). We are considering setting up our factory in Hurghada, because the workshops making the fibreglass chassis are already there”, says Ahmed Abdel Hafez, who is well aware that experiments with making solar cars are moving at a fair rate all over the world, but they will probably only really take off once fossil fuels have run out.
Research, Development and Innovation programme http://www.rdi.eg.net/Pages/Default.aspx The Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Programme aims at strengthening the links between the research sector and the industry while enhancing the innovation and technology transfer culture. In addition, RDI seeks to support the progressive integration of Egypt into the European Research Area. Funded by the European Commission with a grant of €11 million over a period of three years, the RDI Programme is managed by a Project Implementation Office set-up by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
Solar car Funded by the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) programme, the project aims at contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in Egypt through the improvement of technological innovation in the sectors of transport and renewable energy. Duration: August 2009 - February 2011 Partner countries: Egypt, Italy, Jordan Budget: €329,300
Specific objective: design and manufacture of a fleet of prototype vehicles that run exclusively on solar energy, to transport passengers and goods. To find out more Sunny vehicles - wordpress http://sunnyvehicles.wordpress.com/ EU-Egypt Innovation Fund http://www.rdi.eg.net/InnovationFund/DocumentLibrary/Documents/projects_catalogue.pdf Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) programme: http://www.rdi.eg.net EU Neighbourhood Info Centre thematic portal: ENERGY http://www.enpi-info.eu/thememed.php?subject=5
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