Only 41 days before the biannual World Solar Challenge comes up! The WSC has become part of the Global Green Challenge which broadens the event to include vehicles running on biofuels etc. Mij personal interest lies with the solar-powered vehicles so that’s what I’ll write most about.

It wasn’t easybut the list with participating teams is finished, insofar as such a list can ever really be finished. I find it remarkable that there are still several teams which are competely invisible on the internet. No website, no images, no videos, nothing. I wonder if those teams have a serious chance of even making it to the starting line. I think most, of not all, teams are dependent on sponsoring and it seems to me that good PR would be vital. On the other hand: if a teams is paid from private money it might not seem worth it to spend time and money on a website.

I plan to cover the World Solar Challenge extensively on this website, just like two years ago, because I think it’s a marvellous event. I don’t follow any other sports, especially no motor sports, but I want to know as much as possible about this event. It’s high-tech, it uses solar power, it can accelerate the development of more sustainable vehicles, it delivers students who have worked with energy-saving technology and who van hopefully can put that into practice in their careers and also it’s a sports in which Dutch teams perform very well, contra to expectations. The Nuon Solar Team won the last four (!) events and also the Solar Team Twente performs well on (I think) a much smaller budget.

I’ve been a bit busy lately, so I wasn’t able to post much about the solar teams, but here is a big update:

Solar Team Twente

The team and its car left for (and arrived in) Australia last week, they will make themselves comfortable an start preparing for the race. The car will require a lot of tinkering and tweaking as one-off vehicles such as these are never really finished I think. Also, the team members will probably have to get used to the climate and the pressure of the race will probably start to make itself felt.

I sponsored the Solar Teem Twente by adopting a solar cell, so I hope they do well

Nuon Solar Team

This team has been Australia for about a week and half now. On the flight in they had a stopover during which they took the opportunity to meet the Nanyang Technological University solar team which must have been fun for all involved.

They’re busy configuring their chase cars with computers, transceivers en the 1001 other things needed to keep a high-tech solar car on the road for a 3000+km race.

The Nuon Solar Team has a lot to live up to after winning the event for four times, I’m sure the team members must feel this as some extra perssure. I’m very, very curious as to how it will go this year. I’m hesitant to do any predictions, but after studying the websites of nearly all the other teams I think that especially the Belgium team has a very good chance of beating Nuon. Their car looks fast with great tech and also the comes across as very well organised.  Twente, with their unusual design, could be the joker in the pack, who knows? On the other hand: completely random events like a broken steering rod (Belgium) or suspension (Twente), or even a collision with ones’ own chase vehicle (Michigan) can cause disastrous delays. Let’s hope that both Dutch teams are spared bad luck like this.

Umicore Solar Team

The Belgians have arrived in Australia four days ago and, like the other teams, will spend their time to get used to the climate and further optimise their car. As soon as there’s more news I’ll write about it.

University of Michigan Solar Car Team

Their website has nothing on their participation in the WSC yet, as far as I can tell they’re not even on their way to Australia yet. Their calender still does mention their participation.