PowerFilm Solar, PowerDrive
Golf Car Solar Panels (www.
powerfilmsolar.com)
• Fits most models and brands
using each carts existing
mounting system.
• Carbon neutral, ideal for
environmentally sustainable
golf course management.
• Charges while in use, resulting
in a increased rang on the
course of 30%-50%
• Solar Powered Fleets reduce
their consumption from the
electric grid by 50%-75%
• Prolongs the life of costly
batteries up to 50% more.
• Does not affect the
manufacturer’s warranty.
where the extra weight comes
from. The average U.S. house-
hold will spend $3,475 a year
just fueling vehicles. This is
approximately 18,600lbs of CO2
a year!
If your golf cart substitutes 100
gallons of gas throughout the
year, that would be equivalent
to saving 660lbs of waste going
to a landfill…or saving 37 cylin-
ders of propane used for home
barbecuing or saving over 2 bar-
rels of oil from being consumed.
Go GREEN Fact:
Batteries are being recycled
at a rate of 98 percent!
GO GREEN Factors
Did you know that one gallon of
gasoline used while driving ac-
tually produces almost 20lbs of
CO2! How can this be, a gallon
of gas only weighs about 7lbs?
Actually, most of the weight of
the CO2 does not come from
the gasoline itself. It is pro-
duced during combustion of
the engine and most of the CO2
comes from the oxygen in the
air. When the gas burns, carbon
and hydrogen separate. The hy-
drogen combines with oxygen,
making water (H2O), and carbon
combines with oxygen forming
carbon dioxide (CO2). Due to
two parts oxygen being brought
in from the atmosphere, this is
Another go green
factor, electric
golf cart batteries
are recyclable.
Lead-acid bat-
teries are the
environmental
success story of
our time. In fact, a
National Recycling
Rate Study com-
missioned by Battery Council
International (BCI) reveals that
batteries are being recycled at
a rate of 98 percent. Compared
to 55% of aluminum soft drink
and beer cans, 45% of newspa-
pers, 26% of glass bottles and
26% of tires, lead-acid batteries
top the list of the most highly
recycled consumer product.
The goal is to recycle all lead
batteries. While it’s important to
know that all the component of
a recyclable lead battery can be
reused, it’s comforting to know
that they actually are….
The lead-acid battery gains its
environmental edge from its
closed-loop life cycle. The typical
new lead-acid battery contains
60 to 80 percent recycled lead
and plastic. Battery users re-
turn their used lead batteries
to a drop-off site (like our golf
car service department), where
they are then sent back to the
battery wholesaler (we use
Safe-Start), then to secondary
lead smelters. Secondary smelt-
ers melt and refine the lead
plates and separate the plastic.
Under strict environmental
regulations, the lead and plas-
tic are reclaimed and sent to a
reprocessor for manufacture
into new plastic products. The
purified lead is delivered to the
battery manufacturers and oth-
er industries. The acid is collect-
ed and either reused or treated.
Eventually, the original battery
components may end up being
used to make new lead batter-
ies. The recycling cycle goes on
indefinitely. That means the
lead and plastic in the lead-acid
battery in your golf car have
been – and will continue to be
— recycled many, many times.
This makes lead-acid battery
disposal extremely successful
from both environmental and
cost perspectives.
Go GREEN Fact:
The typical new lead-acid
battery contains 60 to 80%
recycled lead and plastic.
So, not only are golf cars a fun
and inexpensive way to ride, it’s
environmentally friendly way to
go green!
“The Consumer Guide to Lead
Battery Recycling” produced by
the Battery Council Internation-
al, www.batterycouncil.org
http://www.epa.gov/cleanener-
gy/energy-resources/calculator.
html#results
AUGUST 2019
25