We talk so much about solar powered cars that we sometimes loose ourselves in that subject, luckily there are people thinking about other type of solar powered transport – busses. Tindo is the first entirely solar powered bus. It is a proud achievement for the Adelaide city in Australia. The Tindo, which is the Kaurna name for Sun, is made by "Designline International", a New Zealand company and made its first official appearance on December 13th 2007.

"Tindo" has an operational range of 200 kilometers between charges under typical urban conditions, and as it doesn't have a combustion engine, it operates quietly and effectively with zero tail pipe emissions. It uses 11 Swiss-made Zebra sodieum/nickel batteries, giving the bus unprecedented energy storage and operational range. The batteries are not affected by external temperatures...

It is indeed a pure EV. Its batteries will be recharged using a unique solar PV system installed on the roof of the new Adelaide Central Bus Station. This system generates 70,000 kilowatt hours of zero carbon emissions electricity per year - which makes it the largest grid-connected solar system in Adelaide city.

But with Tindo the benefits are not only for the environment, they are also for its passengers as they will be able to ride it for free. Hopefully the Adelaide City example will soon be followed by many others. We can just wait and see.