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The Solarworld No. 1 begins the race  (Source: The Advertiser)
Almost 40 solar vehicles are racing through Australia

The World Solar Challenge sun-powered car race started yesterday with 37 solar vehicles created by 61 teams from 20 nations racing into the Australian outback. Thousands of spectators watched as participants started the trek to Adelaide from the Northern Territory of Darwin, a 3,000-km journey that takes several days.

Race organizers have one set rule: each custom-built vehicle must navigate the 3,000-km. course on solar power only; no other resources can be used. Drivers and crew stop racing and setup camp once the sun goes down. Teams typically endure hot temperatures, strong winds, angry truck drivers and random kangaroo crossings over the duration of the trip.

The Dutch Nuon Solar Team, winner of three races and current record time holder, is one of the favorites to win the race again. The University of Michigan's entry, a favorite to win the overall race, unfortunately crashed just a few minutes into the start of the race - status of the vehicle is unknown. Japanese team Aurora was currently in first place at the last check point, with a 20-minute lead over Belgium's Umicore car.

Organizers also added a gasoline/electric hybrids and ethanol vehicles category to the race, featuring 19 participating vehicles.

A similar solar car race in North America will take place sometime in July, with participants racing a course from Texas to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The race route and full list of race participants is unknown.

Car manufacturers are looking for alternative technology to power cars, but solar power is not a research priority at the moment.

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Good luck
By djc208 on 10/22/2007 7:41:45 AM , Rating: 2
Had some issues with the space bar there. Regardless, good luck to all the teams, it may not be a practical power source but I'm sure it's been a lot of fun to design and build.

Wonder why the American race is so long? I would think a shorter route would be just as good. Seems to me driving from Texas to Canada would take weeks for some of these vehicles.




RE: Good luck
By semo on 10/22/2007 7:52:51 AM , Rating: 2
i actually read noother as one word 3 times before i realized what it meant. damn you for making me feel so silly!

so are these cars road legal? i know some motorbike events or classic car races can be a bit of a nuisance but a sun-powered car race is so much worse. it's a really, really, really slow nuisance.


RE: Good luck
By Alexstarfire on 10/22/2007 8:13:20 AM , Rating: 2
Well, exactly how slow are we talking about?


RE: Good luck
By Frallan on 10/22/2007 8:17:56 AM , Rating: 2
not very - the best tim so far is a bit over 29 hrs for 3000km which estimates to a bit over 100 km/h average speed.

So slow NOT!


RE: Good luck
By StevoLincolnite on 10/22/2007 8:23:20 AM , Rating: 3
Hmm, Interesting, still Roo's are common down here in South Australia so I can imagine that they are even more common in Mid Australia, lets hope a big Buck doesnt jump across the road and on top of a Vehicle.
I have written off a few cars in my life time thanks to Kangaroo's but those were at much larger speeds.

I wonder if they Bullbars?
Also its smart that they don't travel at night Aboriginals like to sleep on the warm road.


RE: Good luck
By Screwballl on 10/22/2007 11:50:32 AM , Rating: 2
100km/h = 62.1 mph
Thats not really that fast considering many of the big trucks here in the US are traveling at a good 70-80 mph (112 to 129 km/h).
The local interstate posted limit is 70mph (around 112 km/h) but varies from state to state, some may be 65, some 75 or even higher in places like Montana.


RE: Good luck
By StevoLincolnite on 10/22/2007 12:20:47 PM , Rating: 2
Well, Considering there never used to be a speed limit on the main road to Alice Springs until a year or so ago, they should find themselves lucky, I know people who did 200km's an hour or more on that stretch of road.
And the Speed Limit is 110km's.


RE: Good luck
By Runiteshark on 10/22/07, Rating: 0
RE: Good luck
By Etsp on 10/22/2007 1:19:05 PM , Rating: 2
See, These types of competitions lead to innovation. That never happens all at once, but gradually, the lessons learned can be applied to future technologies...


RE: Good luck
By Runiteshark on 10/22/07, Rating: -1
RE: Good luck
By Aarnando on 10/22/2007 2:11:17 PM , Rating: 3
They're just racing some specially designed solar cars. No one is telling you to assimilate to the ways of solar powered cars or be annihilated. It's a race. It's a competition. It's a game. Nothing more.


RE: Good luck
By Oregonian2 on 10/22/2007 3:20:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
My point is, is solar panels on a car will never be done on any mass production vehicle, other then perhaps a supplement or emergency backup for an electric car.


You answered your own question as to why it WILL be done. If made sufficiently efficient and user friendly (which having these races help develop) it's combination with plug-in-able electric cars (like the upcoming Volt) allows a car to be partially solar. This is important because when electric cars start to hit the road in numbers, our electricity power grid will start being hit hard and comparatively suddenly. Being partially solar will help (as well as be an emergency backup when one gets stuck in the desert with no gas or hydrogen as the case might be).

Despite the negative vibes in your postings, you have promoted the very reason why the solar races are a great idea and why solar cells are likely to be in production cars, especially in the southern portions of the U.S.


RE: Good luck
By sinful on 10/22/2007 8:36:31 PM , Rating: 2
The benefits come not just from the solar powered aspect, they come from other aspects - such as making the car lighter, more aerodynamic, etc.

In order to run one of these cars, you have to be very lean and very efficient.

It's like saying Intel shouldn't focus on making their CPU's consume less power - they should just focus on making bigger batteries!

Yeah, that goes so far, but this tackles the problem from the other end.


RE: Good luck
By Hoser McMoose on 10/22/2007 3:13:23 PM , Rating: 2
From a practical standpoint, solar powered cars are retarded. From an engineering competition standpoint it's brilliant!

I'm fairly certain that none of the competitors here have any expectation that their vehicles are going to lead to anything resembling a production vehicle, but that's not the point of it. The point is to come up with innovative ideas that may have applications elsewhere. A lot (most?) of these vehicles are also projects undertaken by engineering students at Universities (the school in my town has a car there now), and there are some very good educational opportunities.

As for batteries, Li-Ion batteries are currently at about 1MJ/L energy density, up to 2MJ/L for the latest and greatest designs in labs. This is quite a bit lower than the ~40MJ/L of gasoline. However Li-Ion batteries combined with electrical motors are very efficient, better than 90% so. Compare that with a gasoline engine that is only about 20% efficient at best, so the usable energy at the wheels is only off by about a factor of about 4 or 5 (ie you need 4 or 5 times the volume of batteries vs. your gas tank).

The real downside is the loss in permanent storage as the cells age. In some batteries this could easily be up to 30% per year, which would be totally unacceptable. However the other things you've mentioned (holding charge for time and the low waste, whether you're talking electrical efficiency or ecological waste at EOL) are pretty well solved.

I don't anticipate seeing fully battery powered cars in the immediate future, however I think we're within one generation of battery technology (ie 5 years at most) before plug-in hybrids become a really good solution for most vehicles, particularly serial-style hybrids like the GM Volt. The 'fuel' is cheaper, environmental it's at least equal (if getting your power from coal) or better (any other source of electricity) and the performance should be MUCH better (electrical motors deliver nearly peak power throughout their entire RPM range). Combine a much simpler drivetrain and the price of the vehicle shouldn't be significantly different either, at least for the mid-range of vehicles on up.


RE: Good luck
By Alexstarfire on 10/22/2007 4:46:33 PM , Rating: 2
You wouldn't happen to own a gas station, or oil refinery, would you? While gas has a lot of energy we aren't using it very efficiently. We use, what, like 1/3rd of the energy in a gallon of gas if we are lucky. The rest just turns into heat. What we need are more efficient engines, if we want to keep using liquids of course. Electric engines, on the other hand, are HIGHLY efficient, with something like 80+% efficiency if I remember correctly. I'm not sure about battery loses through converting, while storing and outputting power. Even if it was only 80% effective at every stage it'd still be over 50% effective in general. Course that doesn't take into account efficiency loss while making the electricity, and I couldn't even guess how bad we are at that. Then again, the same could be said about refining oil too.

Solar power IS the way to go. Solar powered cars may not be, but solar power IS. The sun produces more energy in a day, that hits Earth, than we humans produce all year. That idea about putting solar panels in space is a great idea, but we need a way to get it from there to wherever safely. That'll take a while though.


RE: Good luck
By Wightout on 10/22/2007 2:29:54 PM , Rating: 2
That is an average speed...

That would include the speed pulling over and stopping for the night. Any stop signs along the path they take? Some lights maybe? Any places where they would be hitting some traffic perhaps?

I tell you this much if you drive in LA for 29 hour you would be lucky to have an average speed of 60mph durring the day time at least.


RE: Good luck
By semo on 10/22/2007 12:17:03 PM , Rating: 2
i alway thought those things moved at a pace that is slightly faster than jogging. i guess those vehicles weigh as much as the drivers.

what sort of inclines can they climb? or is the route entirely flat.

man, i know nothing about those races.


RE: Good luck
By croc on 10/22/2007 10:43:17 AM , Rating: 2
Amarillo to Calgary is a few k short of Darwin to Adelaid... About 500 and a bit.


Status Update: University of Michigan Solar Car
By udx on 10/22/2007 9:30:25 AM , Rating: 5
Our solar car has been completely repaired. It performed just as well aerodynamically, electrically and mechanically.

Although the crash did slow us down, we are still making good progress towards the finish line.

Anyone interested could check out our blog http://www.engin.umich.edu/solarcar/blog/




By ted61 on 10/22/2007 3:23:05 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks for the update and link.

GO BLUE!!!!


By Michael Hoffman on 10/22/2007 4:22:54 PM , Rating: 2
hi udx, thanks for the update! :)


Solar power...?
By Sungpooz on 10/22/2007 10:03:45 AM , Rating: 2
So...

if they go under a bridge, they're screwed?




RE: Solar power...?
By udx on 10/22/2007 10:09:32 AM , Rating: 2
The car uses energy from its battery pack when the solar panel doesn't generate enough electricity.


RE: Solar power...?
By ebakke on 10/22/2007 4:05:05 PM , Rating: 2
Think outside the box.


RE: Solar power...?
By Alexstarfire on 10/22/2007 4:48:24 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, because I'm sure the second they lose solar power that the E-brake just slams on so that they stop at over 60MPH under the bridge. Use your head.


In other Solar-Powered news...
By jtemplin on 10/22/2007 10:12:01 AM , Rating: 2
Heard of the solar decathalon? It occurred over the weekend on the National Mall. University of Maryland took first in the country and second overall. Go terps!

http://www.solardecathlon.org/scores_standings.htm...




Practical alternative?
By kileil on 10/22/2007 11:05:41 AM , Rating: 2
While this event is a fun way to advance solar tech through competition, it's a bit of a stretch from everyday applications.

Perhaps add another event where these engineers compete to create a solar vehicle that could get granny to the grocer and back without her breaking a sweat (or a hip)?




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