Louis Palmer

Key takeaways

Louis Palmer belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Louis Palmer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Louis Palmer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Louis Palmer (born 1971 in Budapest) is a Swiss keynote speaker and environmental advocate who self-describes as a "Solar Pioneer".

Life Louis Palmer was raised in Luzern, Switzerland. Since he was a little child, his dream was to show the benefit of renewable energy sources and solar cars to the world. After finishing school, he became a schoolteacher. After several trips to foreign countries, he discovered his vision and took his first steps into Solar Energy. In 2007 and 2008, he was the first to circumnavigate the globe on solar power.

Motivational speaker Louis Palmer speaks at conferences around the world about solar energy and the possibility of a better world through renewable energy. His audiences include researchers, politicians, and students. In 2009, Palmer was awarded the European Solar Prize, and in 2011, he was awarded Champion of the Earth award in the Inspiration & Action category for circumnavigating the globe in a solar-powered vehicle.

Solartaxi In 2004, with the help of sponsors and technical support, Palmer began building a solar-powered car called the Solartaxi. For the technical expertise, he worked together with the Hochschule für Technik und Architektur Luzern and three other Swiss universities. He drove around the world in his Solartaxi between 2007 and 2008, logging over 54,000 kilometers through over 40 counties. In 2008, the tour ended in Luzern after 18 months, making it the first tour around the world in a solar-powered car. During the tour, his companion Erik Schmitt made a documentary film about the tour. In 2009 he was awarded the European Solar Prize for his Solartaxi.

Zero Race After his Solartaxi tour, Palmer drew from his previous experience when he became the initiator and tour director of an organized race. The Zero Emissions Race took place between August 2010 and February 2011. The aim was to make it around the world in 80 days and to show what emission-free vehicles can accomplish. Palmer invited four teams to enter the competition, under the following criteria for their vehicles: they had to be propelled by an electric motor, they had to be able to drive a minimum of 250 kilometres (160 mi) at a minimum average speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph), they had to be able to achieve a distance of 500 kilometres (310 mi) over the course of a day with a single 4 hour charge break, and they had to be able to carry at least two passengers. Through Zero Emissions Race, Palmer was once again able to draw attention to his vision of sustainable living.

WAVE World Advanced Vehicle Expedition Palmer's third tour began on 10 September 2011 in Paris and finished on 25 September 2011 in Prague. 25 electric vehicles from eight countries joined his first WAVE across 3,000 km and eight countries. The tour stopped in around 30 cities to demonstrate to the public that electric vehicles are reliable, fun, and powerful. All vehicles had to produce their own electricity from a renewable source such as wind or solar and feed it into the grid. In December, the second WAVE took place in India. Five electric cars joined this tour from Mumbai to Bangalore and back. In 2014, 75 vehicles have already joined the tour, and Palmer set the world record for the largest electric vehicle parade with 481 vehicles, which joined the WAVE at its start in Stuttgart on 31 May 2014. In 2016, Charged Hong Kong helped students get climate commitments which were sent to United Nations and multiple world leaders.

Switchbus / Switzerland Explorer

Together with his wife, Dr. Julianna Priskin, Palmer co-founded the Switzerland Explorer" with the world's first 100% electric tour bus. The aim of Switzerland Explorer is to take groups or individual tourists on sustainable tours around Switzerland. The bus was originally in service for the German army, and then it was converted to electric drive by Design-werk. It can transport up to 16 passengers and has a range of up to 300 km.

Writings Verrückt nach dieser Welt: Abenteuer zwischen Himmel und Erde. Delius Klasing Verlag. Bielefeld. 2005. ISBN 978-3-7688-1682-3

References

External links Literature by and about Louis Palmer in the German National Library catalogue Louis Palmer's biography – on his personal website Solartaxi. Around the world with the sun – website promoting the film by Erik Schmitt WAVE World Advanced Vehicle Expeditions 2011 – about the WAVE Europe and WAVE India WAVE World Advanced Vehicle Expeditions 2012 – about the E-Bike WAVE and WAVE Europe in September 2012 WAVE World Advanced Vehicle Expeditions – about the world's largest electric vehicle tour UNEP Champion of the Earth Award – about Louis Palmer as Lauretae Switzerland Explorer - Sustainable tours around Switzerland – about the tours aboard the world's first 100% electric tour bus

Illustrations

Louis Palmer: Palmer on the Solartaxi — Palmer on the Solartaxi

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Louis Palmer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Louis Palmer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Louis Palmer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Louis Palmer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Louis Palmer

In research: Louis Palmer appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Louis Palmer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Louis Palmer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1971 births, 21st-century Swiss inventors, Living people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Louis Palmer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Louis Palmer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Louis Palmer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Louis Palmer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Louis Palmer in simple terms?

Louis Palmer (born 1971 in Budapest) is a Swiss keynote speaker and environmental advocate who self-describes as a "Solar Pioneer". Life Louis Palmer was raised in Luzern, Switzerland.

Why does Louis Palmer matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Louis Palmer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Louis Palmer.