With its silver panels on the roof and hood, the solarcycle looks like a contraption out of a space-age movie. But with gas nearing $4 a gallon and global warming a real threat, Wexler said his street-legal invention is the answer to both problems.
''I dream of solar car factories,'' Wexler said.
His solarcycle is one of 40 alternative-fuel vehicles that will be showcased from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the third GLEE exposition at Marathon High School.
In addition to 90 exhibitors, GLEE, which stands for Green Living and Energy Education, also will host 30 free workshops.
The green fleet includes an electric luxury boat, electric pickup truck, electric motorcycle and hybrid school bus that runs on biodiesel and electricity.
Karen Beal, coordinator of the alternative-fuel vehicles portion of the exposition, said interest has seemed to soar with the skyrocketing prices at the pump.
''And a lot of these vehicles,'' she said, ``are perfect for the Keys -- especially Key West, where you're not going to go much faster than 45.''
While Wexler's solar-powered car has a ways to go before mass production, Pascal Schreier brought four modes of electric transportation that are all on the market now: a pickup truck, motor scooter, motorcycle and three-wheel stand-up machine called Zappy, a nickname for Zero Air Pollution, that can go up to 14 mph.
His small pickup is powered by six 12-volt batteries that can run up to 35 miles on a single charge.
The cost to recharge the batteries: about 50 cents.
Because it has only three wheels, the pickup is classified as a motorcycle, Schreier said, and costs just $58 to insure annually.
He said he sold 15 in the past two weeks -- 30 so far this year at about $14,000.
''It's just the beginning,'' he said. ``I think they will be a big hit in Key West.''
Also perfect for the Keys are electric boats, said W. Todd Sims, vice president of E Power Marine in Boynton Beach.
He brought ''Sound of Silence,'' a Lear 204 20-foot boat that runs on the equivalent of 20 car batteries that weigh 1,000 pounds.
The boat can travel eight hours at five knots before having to be recharged, which Sims said costs only $1.50.
''It's not for offshore fishing,'' he said. ``It's designed for people who primarily own waterfront homes, like on the beautiful canals here in Marathon, and want to use it to cruise to restaurants and wave to friends on the canals, bay and harbors.''
The boat has a retractable roof that is run by a remote control, and also includes a refrigerator and ''great stereo system, which you can actually hear because you don't have the droning of the motor,'' Sims said.
While it's pricey at $65,000, Sims said there are electric boats for sale that start at $14,000.
The biggest-ticket item is the hybrid school bus, which runs about $200,000, down from the $250,000 that the Manatee School District paid for the first two hybrid school buses in the nation.
''I was the first hybrid school bus driver,'' said Michael Wells, who said the bus operates on half electricity, half biodiesel.
The vehicle costs about twice as much as a gas-powered school bus, but gets about twice the fuel mileage, averaging about 12 miles per gallon.
``But most important, it reduces emissions by 90 percent. It's most about being green and clean. Good for the air. Good for the kids. Good for our planet.''
