Ground Report

A solar car is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the car. Photovoltaic (PV) cells convert the sun’s energy directly into electrical energy. Solar cars are not practical day-to-day transportation devices at present, but are primarily demonstration vehicles and engineering exercises. Solar cars compete in races (often called rayces) such as the World Solar Challenge and the American Solar Challenge. These events are often sponsored by government agencies, such as the United States Department of Energy, who are keen to promote the development of alternative energy technology (such as solar cells). Such challenges are often entered by universities to develop their students’ engineering and technological skills, but many business corporations have entered competitions as well, including teams from GM and Ford. A small number of high school teams participate in solar car races designed exclusively for high school students (the best-known and longest-running of these being the Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge). Races: Race strategy- Optimizing energy consumption is of prime importance in a solar car race. Therefore it is very important to be able to closely monitor the speed, energy consumption, energy intake from solar panel, among other things in real time. Some teams employ sophisticated telemetry that relays vehicle performance data to a computer in a following support vehicle. The strategy employed depends upon the race rules and conditions. Most solar car races have set starting and stopping points where the objective is to reach the final point in the least amount of total time. Since aerodynamic drag force rises quadratically with speed, the energy the car consumes per second rises cubically (per meter travaled it rises quadratically with speed). Given the varied conditions in all races and the limited (and continuously changing) supply of energy, most teams have race speed optimization programs that continuously update the team on how fast the vehicle should be traveling. Solar car races- University of Michigan and University of Minnesota heading west toward the finish line in the North American Solar Challenge 2005The two most notable solar car races are the World Solar Challenge and the North American Solar Challenge. They are contested by a variety of university and corporate teams. Corporate teams contest the race to give its design teams experience in working with both alternative energy sources and advanced materials (although some may view their participation as mere PR exercises). GM and Honda are among the companies who have sponsored solar teams. University teams enter the races because it gives their students experience in designing high technology cars and working with environmental and advanced materials technology. These races are often sponsored by agencies such as the US Department of Energy keen to promote renewable energy sources. The cars require intensive support teams similar in size to professional motor racing teams. This is especially the case with the World Solar Challenge where sections of the race run through very remote country. There are other races, such as Suzuka, Phaethon, and the World Solar Rally. Suzuka is a yearly track race in Japan and Phaethon was part of the Cultural Olympiad in Greece right before the 2004 Olympics. The 2005 North American Solar Challenge, which ran from Austin, Texas, to Calgary, Alberta, was the successor of the American Solar Challenge. The ASC ran in 2001 and 2003 from Chicago, Illinois, to Claremont, California along old Route 66. The ASC was in turn the successor to the old GM Sunrayce, which was run across the country in 1990, 1993, and then every two years through 1999. The 2005 North American Solar Challenge had two classes: Open: where teams are allowed to use space-grade solar cells – won by the University of Michigan. Stock: limits the type of cells that can be used on solar arrays – won by Stanford University. The North American Solar Challenge was sponsored in part by the US Department of Energy. However, funding was cut near the end of 2005, and the NASC2007 was forced to cancel. Shocked at the imminent loss of their lifeblood the North American Solar Raycing community worked to find a solution. 18 teams from around North America attended a conference in Topeka, KS on October 20-21 to decide upon rules for a 2008 race. With great effort from the entire community, especially Brian Iganaut 2007 Project Manager for the University of Michigan Solar Car Team Toyota was brought in as a primary sponsor for the race.