New Stella Vita: The solar camper soaks up the sun

Stella Vita, het rijdend huis op zonne-energie van studententeam Solar Team Eindhoven. Met het dak uitgeklapt beschikt het zgn. Self-sustaining House On Wheels over 17,5 m2 aan zonnepanelen waarmee genoeg energie wordt opgewekt voor rijden en wonen. Met volle batterij en op een zonnige dag kan wel 730 km gereden worden. foto: STE / Bart van Overbeeke Stella Vita, the solar-powered driving house by students team Solar Team Eindhoven. With the roof folded out this Self-sustaining House On Wheels has 17,5 m2 of solar panels, enough for driving and living. On a full battery and a sunny day it could reach 730 kms. Credit: STE / Bart van Overbeeke

With the Stella Vita, students of the Eindhoven University of Technology present a vision of the motorhome of the future – purely electric and charged with solar energy with a range of up to 730 kilometers. Even if the “Solar Team Eindhoven” camper is only one of a kind, it shows what is already possible with the current state of the art.

Stella Vita

Stella Vita Features

While one electric car premiere chases the next, battery-powered motorhomes have remained conspicuously silent so far. With the Stella Vita, however, students from the Netherlands show that it is entirely possible to electrify recreational vehicles. The special thing about the vita of the “Solar Team Eindhoven” is – as the name of the team of 22 students already suggests – the drive through solar power.

For this purpose, solar panels are housed on the roof of the camper on an area of ​​a maximum of 17.5 square meters (fully unfolded, only when standing), which provide the electricity for driving and living.

While driving, charging via the photovoltaic system is also possible, but then only on eight square meters of folded panel area. The electricity is stored in a 60 kWh battery and is sufficient for a journey of up to 600 kilometers at up to 120 km / h. On sunny days, the range of the electric camper can even be up to 730 kilometers. If you want to live self-sufficiently, you should plan at least two to three days for the charging process with solar energy – however, conventional charging stations can also be controlled with the Stella Vita and shorten the charging time.

Stella Vita

STELLA VITA: SELF-SUFFICIENT CAMPING THANKS TO A SOLAR ROOF

In order to use as little energy as possible when driving, the Stella Vita is designed as streamlined as possible. This includes the flat silhouette with a sloping roofline, which is unusually flat for a motorhome. The almost seven meter long camper van is only 1.83 meters high. A pop-top roof provides the necessary space in the stand. Nothing is missing on board. Even a compact shower is planned in the “self-sustaining house on wheels” – the self-sufficient house on wheels – as well as a fully-fledged kitchen and modern infotainment with constant energy monitoring.

Stella Vita

The curb weight of the solar camper, including the comfort features, is just 1.7 tonnes thanks to the consistent lightweight construction. The students of the TU Eindhoven proved with a trip from the Netherlands to Tarifa in southern Spain, that the study vehicle can drive with pure solar energy.

Stella Vita

A market readiness is not planned for the time being. With the Stella Vita, the students primarily want to prove how solar energy can also be used in vehicle operation and provide food for thought for the industry. There is therefore no price for self-catering either.

Dinesh: Dinesh Kumar has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology's importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more interesting changes happening now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.