GreenGT Solar Powered tire heating system

Until now, the tires used in motor racing have been heated before each race using hot air sent from a gas burner. The gas burners used in motor racing are a problem for two reasons. The first problem is that the burner system is noisy, expensive and emits pollution. The second problem is that the burner system poses a true safety risk inside the paddock as gas tanks have to be installed in all the trucks. The Le Mans Series organisation which organizes major endurance races has announced that they plan to ban the burner system in the near future.

A Swiss company named GreenGT developed a green solution to meet this problem, a solar powered tire heating system named the Sunny Green Box. During a traditional race weekend for the Le Mans Series, over 50 trucks are lined up in the paddocks. GreenGT's Sunny Green Box will cover the roofs of the trucks with solar cells in order to charge batteries that will be used to power the tire heating system.

The Sunny Green Box system is able to heat tires to a temperature of 70 degrees celcius in a matter of 40 minutes. This is the standard temperature teams are looking for when using the traditional gas burner heating system. This system has been tested and is now used by OAK Racing Team Mazda France.

This is the first of the many eco friendly efforts the motor racing world will have to accomplish in order to meet future regulations. The Sunny Green Box is sure to find an essential spot in the racing teams of the future. Green GT believes that their system will give teams more freedom as they will now be generating their own power and have calculated that the Sunny Green Box will save each teams from emitting 10 tons of CO2 in one LMS season.

(Source: GreenGT)