Solar Cars Competition Heats Up

The World Solar Challenge is a competition where universities from around the world design and build fully solar-powered vehicles that can travel 3,000 km across Australia at average speeds of more than 80 km/hr. The goal of the competition is to promote research for sustainable transportation. Key areas of interest are aerodynamics, solar conversion ratio, battery technology, low-rolling resistance tires, and electric hub motors. A well-planned strategy is also pivotal to whether the solar car can survive the full distance of the journey across Australian terrain.

Nuna 4 on the Stuart Highway in South Australia.

The World Solar Challenge is different from other solar car competitions because it requires the team to travel 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia, which means that a problem could arise that determines whether the solar car completes the journey.

The South Australian Tourism along with the Government of the Northern Territory of Australia have ensured that together they can show the world the bright young people who are addressing the challenge of finding cleaner and greener solutions to meet our demands for personal mobility.

Since Adelaide was the host city for World Environment Day (WED) 2000, World Environment Day has become the key date for announcing details of the next World Solar Challenge, the 11th extreme endurance event in this format. The event will start on October 16, 2011. Preparation facilities will be available in Darwin from October 4, 2011, with the awards being presented on October 23, 2011.

In 2001, the World Solar Challenge presented the “demonstration class” for vehicles seeking practical efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our daily motoring. Years later, the World Solar Challenge teamed with an environmental organization to present a wider range of environmentally sensitive and alternative fuel vehicles – from a hydrogen bus to a number of electric vehicles.

The General and Technical Regulations for the 2011 World Solar Challenge have been published with most of the changes announced on WED. The organization is currently working on a number of operational and procedural issues aimed at improving the World Solar Challenge experience for everyone.

World Solar Challenge
www.worldsolarchallenge.org

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