If you have ever dreamed of a solar camper, this is the vehicle to look at. Solar Team Eindhoven is famous for its solar family cars Stella Lux and Stella Vie. In 2021, instead of building another car for the World Solar Challenge, the team built a camper: Stella Vita.
The team calls it a “self-sustaining house on wheels“: a cross between a solar car and a camper. It has a bed, a kitchenette, a shower and a sitting area, and all energy for driving and living on board comes from the sun. The secret is efficiency: a streamlined body and a fully integrated solar roof. When parked, the roof can be raised and extra solar panels fold out to collect even more energy.
With its 60 kWh battery, Stella Vita has a rated range of about 600 km, and up to 730 km on a sunny day. Unveiled in September 2021, it set off with a team of 22 students on a tour through Europe, from Eindhoven in the Netherlands to Tarifa, the southern tip of Spain.
Stella Vita is a proof of concept, not a product, but it shows what is possible when every watt counts. Its ideas, a big solar roof, a large battery bank and efficient appliances, are the same ones our members use in their own camper conversions like the Solarcamper and the Tin Tent. After Stella Vita the team built Stella Terra (2023), the first solar off-road car, and drove it 1,000 km through Morocco to the Sahara.
Technical data
| Builder | Solar Team Eindhoven, TU Eindhoven (Netherlands) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2021 |
| Type | Solar-powered camper / motorhome concept |
| Battery | 60 kWh |
| Range | ~600 km rated, up to 730 km on a sunny day |
| Solar | Integrated solar roof, extra fold-out panels when parked |
| Trip | Eindhoven → Tarifa (Spain), 2021, team of 22 students |
Photos
- Top photo: Ainali / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Stella Vita on display at the Evoluon in Eindhoven (2024). Photo: S. Perquin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- With the roof raised, there is room to stand, cook and sleep… Photo: Ainali / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0