Cheery Swiss national Louis Palmer was following a childhood dream when he set off from his home country on July 3, traveling over desert, city and sea in 17 countries to reach a conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia. At 14 years old he dreamt that as an adult he would drive around the world.
"Then it came to my mind, how can I travel around the world and enjoy the beauty of this world with a car that is polluting the world? Then I thought the perfect car would be a solar car."
His car was built in three years with scientific help from four universities and 15 Swiss companies.
PHOTO: AP
The car pulls a trailer with 6m2 of solar panels. The electricity is fed into the battery that powers the car which can run for up to 100km a day.
Surplus electricity created by panels back at base in Switzerland is also fed back into the grid, so when Palmer travels by night or on a cloudy day, he can plug into the electricity supply and withdraw his earlier deposits.
"It's the first time in history that a car is driving around the world without a single drop of petrol," boasted Palmer, a teacher by training.
Getting to Bali, however, has thrown up its own challenges. Traffic conditions in India were a nightmare, he said, while Saudi Arabia insisted on a police escort as he made his way across the desert.
So far, Palmer has gone by land through Europe and the Middle East, then by sea to India and on to Indonesia.
In one year from now, after traversing much of Asia, Australia, North America and Africa, he will return to Switzerland to try and drum up support for the commercial possibilities of solar cars.(AFP)
興高采烈的瑞士籍駕駛路易斯．帕馬追尋兒時夢想，七月三日從他的國家出發，橫跨了十七國，經歷沙漠、城市和海洋，最後抵達印尼峇里島參加氣候變遷會議。十四歲時，他就夢想長大後要開車環遊世界。
「我心想，怎麼可以為了環遊世界以享受世界之美，卻開著車子污染環境呢？然後我就想到，太陽能車是最佳的選擇了。」
他所駕駛的車由四所大學和十五家瑞士公司提供技術協助，耗時三年才製作完成。
這輛車拖著一塊六平方公尺大小的太陽能板，電池充電後提供車子動能，一天最遠能行駛一百公里。
在瑞士總部也架設太陽能板，其生產的剩餘電力也會回輸至電極網板，這樣帕馬在夜間或陰天駕駛時，可以接到供電槽，汲取先前的蓄電發動。
「這是有史以來首輛不費一滴油就環遊世界的車，」學教育的帕馬自豪地說。
不過，到峇里島途中也遇到了挑戰。如印度的交通情況簡直是一場噩夢，而沙烏地阿拉伯又堅持派警力護送他度過沙漠。
到目前為止，帕馬走陸路跨越歐洲和中東，然後走海路到印度，接著才到印尼。
未來一年，在橫跨亞洲、澳洲、北美和非洲後，他將重返瑞士奔走遊說，爭取太陽能車商業量產的機會。
（法新社�翻譯：袁星塵）
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