Eco Factor: Zero-emission racecar powered entirely by solar energy.
The defending champion team from the Delft University of Technology is looking forward to winning the World Solar Challenge five times in a row with a new car the Nuna5, which will race across Australia in October this year. This year’s creation by the university team is lighter than the one previously used and the team is expecting much better results this time.
With teams from over thirty countries taking part in the challenge, the race will commence in Darwin on 25 October 2009 and will end in Adelaide on 31 October covering a distance of over 3,000km. The car weighs just 160kgs and is covered with 6-square-meters of photovoltaic panels that will power the car directly. All additional charge that the solar panels generate will be stored in the car’s on-board battery pack, which will then be used for overtaking or driving in cloudy weather.
Nuna5 weighs 30kg less than Nuna4 which was used previously in the challenge. This year’s car had to be different because of the change in rules of the challenge, which now required treaded tires similar to the one used in commercial cars. Treaded tires generate more friction because of which the speed of the car reduces. The team is expecting that the cut in the weight of the car should be able to cater the increase in surface friction.
Via: Delft University of Technology [Press Release]
