Customer Reviews

The Solar Car Book (Klutz)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

During a sunny day in Phoenix, the solar car works great and stops when it goes under the shade. With less intense sun light, a little push may be helpful to over come the friction at the start.
What a nice way to introduce young children the clean solar energy!

The car barely moved in the spring sun, and while it does better on a blazing day there still ought be some more margin of error, especially with the high price (Amazon's is good). The children I built this with were very disappointed. I will try adding more solar cells. Also the cardboard to me seemed likely to wear out, especially if the holes get enlarged. Overall a really neat concept but really the most important thing is that the car work first time out. Try again, Klutz.

The book is interesting, but the car doesn't work as promised. (It barely moves! and we even made sure to try it midday in full sun)

My son (9) and daughter (7) love it. I used it to show them about solar power, electricity, direct current and more. It is a great tool for teaching kids about the world around them and how things work.

The book alone is crammed full of great info for the budding scientist; the car is simple to put together. No, the solar panel doesn't work well indoors, in the winter, inside (they tell you this in the book and suggest you try a battery when the sun isn't on your side; this works just fine). We tried it first just after xmas and had to hold the car just right while turning the wheels to get it going and it wouldn't roll on the floor (too much resistance). By the start of Feb, however, even in a very northern climate we were able to get the car to run on solar power alone. Follow instructions (good thing for kids to learn) and check your connections. You have to do what you're told to get it to work but it does. And the best part? Those failed attempts are all teaching opportunities based in science. My 7 year old son loves his solar powered car and has taken the battery, wheels, and motor and put it on his custom-created cars (some work, some don't; he understands now that the panel is only so powerful). It's easily as great as Battery Science and Mother Nature Goes Nuts.

It works great under California sun. A wonderful hands on project for father and son. The book also tells you how to power it up with a battery. My 6 years old son enjoys it very much.

This is a good little item. We put it together and it worked like a charm. I think to make it worth the price, your goal would need to be educating the youngesters about solar energy, etc. It's virtually a one time use item, although someone that didn't let their kids play with it might get more mileage out of it. I am happy with the purchase, but probably could have found a better way to spend my money...

All of the positive reviews on here are in southern climates. Tried this in Upstate NY, son was so excited and in March, solar cell is not large enough to harness the energy angle of the sun does not provide enough juice to power the motor.

Book has excellent, simple explanation of solar energy, which is lost on the fact that the car will not work 3 seasons out of the year north of the mason dixon line.

Also, a simple Internet search leads to sites with instructions to build this on your own, which should yield a better result.

Recent generations have done an impressive job of polluting the Earth. Our children's generation will have to be considerably more successful in using greener energy sources. An educational and fun book that teaches children about solar power is The Solar Car Book. This book contains a build-it-yourself solar car kit with parts and instructions needed to build a solar car!

My wife Lynn built this car with Liam, our 5-year-old son. Not only is the solar car fun to play with, but the experience was an educational one that offered Liam the opportunity to learn a little about alternative energy and the importance of protecting the Earth.--Glenn Perrett

My 9 year old put this toy together and then it didn't work. He followed directions carefully and it was a flop. I would never recommend this toy.