Haidar Taleb has just embarked on a journey to take him across the United Arab Emirates in a solar-powered wheelchair.
Haidar will travel over 350km in an effort to promote renewable energy and during his 11 day journey, he’ll be stopping off at schools, universities and community groups to display the technology.
47 year old Haidar is no stranger to world records. He already currently holds the record for the longest distance in a motorised solar powered wheelchair, set recently when he travelled for 14 hours non-stop from Masdar City to Sharjah.
The wheelchair was developed in collaboration with Masdar and has a maximum speed of 15–20 km/h. The solar wheelchair is equipped with four deep cycle batteries, and even in cloudy weather provide enough power for up to 6 hours of travel. Aside from charging the batteries, the overhead solar panels also offer shade to the driver.
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy initiative, is sponsoring Haidar on his journey. “Masdar is very proud to sponsor Haidar and his mission to inspire millions of people across the UAE.We share passion and commitment for renewable energy and sustainable use of resources”, said Dr Nawal Al Hosany, Director of Sustainability at Masdar.
With a goal of helping people with reduced mobility using clean power sources, Haidar would like to see his solar powered wheelchair developed for the commercial market. You can follow his journey and leave messages for Haidar via his web site.
