The Power of One
In 1987 Brazilian-born Canadian, Marcelo da Luz saw a news clip about the World Solar Challenge race and it inspired him to design a super cool solar vehicle of his own - XOF1, which he calls The Power of One.
When the model was completely, he set out on a record-breaking trip. This visionary trip began in Buffalo, N.Y., in June 2008, and went through Canada, Alaska and down the West Coast to Los Angeles, where pilot Marcelo da Luz and his solar-powered car made a pit stop Friday.
"Hopefully this won't be the end of the journey for me," said da Luz, 40, whose UFO-like car broke the world's 9,000-mile distance record for travel by a solar vehicle.
His journey came to a halt this past Friday, however, because the funding for his project ran out. The solar team traveled more than 11,500 miles to break the previous record.
The 470-pound, 14-foot vehicle took 10 years and more than 50,000 man hours to build and $50,000 to build, da Luz said.
To read lots more on da Luz’s journey and the fascinating technology involved click here.