U solar car
Stefano Paltera
North American Solar Challenge
Posted on 07/20/2005 5:35:30 PM PDT by wallcrawlr
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Anyone who gets behind the wheel expects uncertainty.
For most drivers, a flat tire, bad directions or a menacing cloud doesn't amount to a big mess. But for members of the University of Minnesota solar car team, these elements can spell disaster.
They're currently trekking across the country in what has quickly become anyone's race.
The team's car cruised into the North American Solar Challenge (NASC) checkpoint in sunny Sioux Falls only minutes ahead of the University of Michigan, M.I.T., the University of Waterloo and the University of Missouri-Rolla.
They're currently in first place in the tight, 20-team competition as they head into their home state of Minnesota.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Wonder how fast it goes?
The University of Minnesota solar car cruises at highway speed.
oh cool! :D 65? not bad. :D
Actually, not that I read it again, it says "everyone is driving slow at 35mph", so it looks like it can go much faster than that.
RED HERRING | Hot Sun Fuels Solar Car Race
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=12799&hed=Hot+Sun+Fuels+Solar+Car+Race§or=Regions&subsector=Americas
Aided by sunny summer weather, a high school team from Mississippi has raced their solar powered-car to victory in a 1,600-mile solar car derby, averaging a not-too-shabby 28 mph to travel from Texas to California in 8 days.
The Houston Solar Race Team, from Houston, Mississippi, set a new record in the Dell-Winston Solar Challenge which ended Saturday, reaching a top speed of 57 mph. The lower average speed over the course included stops such as tire changes and battery charging.
Today is the first day in a month that one of these cars would have gotten out of the parking lot.
But wouldn't it be so much fun to have a couple of quantum leaps in solar tech so that we could just tell the Arabs exactly what to do with their oil?
I get the feeling the race is more about aerodynamics and lightweight composites than it is about solar power.
We are anyway, and they know it.
What would be really cool is solar tech on a car for sunny days, and then on cloudy days, you can pull it into the hydrogen station to fill 'er up with hydrogen produced from solar and wind plants. Completely renewable fuel for our cars.
With luck and research, maybe we can see something like that in 15 years, or even less.
thanks for the info. :D
Go Cyclones!!
I was on the '97 Sunrayce as an official (we were called Observers) which replaces this race. The speeds of the vehicles then were 50mph easily but they had to obey speed limits through small towns and conserve power to climb hills etc. Penalties for violating rules gave the teams addded seconds or minutes so the time of the race is a bit misleading if they are still doing it the same way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.