Ten years ago solar headlamps would have been relegated to the same bin as glow-in-the-dark sunglasses and inflatable dartboards. Today, they’re just another innovation in the electric vehicle race and an add-on to a solar powered Audi TT built by college kids.

Members of the Georgia Tech Solar Jackets yanked the engine out of an Audi TT and replaced it with a solar-electric drivetrain that offers a 110 km range while retaining the TT’s all-wheel drive. They call the car a solar-assist electric vehicle.

We call it cool.

Sheets of thin-film photovoltaic laminate (technical speak for flexible solar panel stickers) cover most of the skyward-facing surfaces. Strangely reminiscent of the excessive application of faux-carbon fibre we often see, these ‘stickers’ actually improve performance. The solar array provides 12 volts of power to the windows, stereo, power brakes, steering and the lighting. Anything left over is stored in the car’s 120-volt battery pack.

The students are hardly alone in slapping solar panels on a car. Toyota is using them on the new Prius to power the ventilation system, and Fisker Automotive plans to use them on the gorgeous Karma plug-in hybrid.

Need a charge? Pop the gas cap and pull out the cord. It plugs into any household outlet. The team hopes to double the car’s range to around 220 km when it installs a lithium-ion battery later this summer. They’re also building a race car that runs solely on solar, which will be taking part in the 2010 Solar Car World Championship and the 2011 World Solar Car Derby.

At first glance the TT’s 62 kW motor may seem anemic, but the Electro-Audi touts 271 N.m. Every bit of it is unleashed as soon as you hit the accelerator, which probably gives it off-the-line performance to rival the high-end TT Quattro model, and the Solar Jackets say the car is quite capable of impressive parking lot donuts.

Adapted from Wired