Vasundara Varadan, director of the GREEN center, shows off the GREEN Mobile.
A converted Winnebago is the newest, and perhaps most unusual addition to the University of Arkansas vehicle fleet. It’s called the GREEN Mobile Solar Energy Laboratory and it will take to the Arkansas highways soon to bring hands-on solar energy experiments to schools and public events across the state.
The mobile laboratory is housed in a converted 33-foot Winnebago and uses a conventional gasoline engine to get around. But it is equipped with six 230-watt solar panels that can power the lab’s equipment, computers, television and other features for two hours at a time.
The mobile lab is the latest addition to an outreach program with a goal of exposing Arkansas students to fun and interactive projects in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.