The World Solar Challenge (WSC), since 2013 named Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, is an international event for solar powered cars driving 3000 kilometres through the Australian outback.
Nuna is the name of a series of manned solar powered race cars that have won the World Solar Challenge in Australia seven times: in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2017. The vehicles are built by students who are part of the "Brunel Solar Team" at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, sponsored by Brunel.
The University of Calgary Solar Car Team is a multi-disciplinary student-run solar car racing ("raycing") team at the University of Calgary, based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was established to design and build a solar car to compete internationally in the American Solar Challenge (ASC) and the World Solar Challenge (WSC). The team is primarily composed of undergraduate students studying Engineering, Business, Science, Arts and Kinesiology. The mission of the University of Calgary Solar Car Team is to educate the community about sustainable energy and to serve as an interdisciplinary project through which students and faculty from various departments can collaborate in supporting sustainable energy.
The Stanford Solar Car Project (SSCP) is a student group at Stanford University that designs, builds, tests, and races solar-powered vehicles. The SSCP, a student-run, donation-funded organization, has been building and racing solar-powered vehicles since 1986. It has competed and placed at The World Solar Challenge, the Global Green Challenge, and American Solar Challenge.
The UNSW Solar Racing Team is the solar car racing team of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The team currently holds a number of world records and is best known for its participation in the World Solar Challenge (WSC). Since its founding in 1996 by Byron Kennedy, the Sunswift team has built a total of 6 different cars, the most recent of which is Sunswift VI.
The University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project, or UMNSVP, is a team of undergraduate students from the University of Minnesota that designs and constructs solar-powered cars. In its 31 years, it has established itself as one of the world's top solar racing teams, and the top Cruiser/Multi-Occupant Vehicle team in the Western Hemisphere, with top-two finishes in eighteen of thirty-four events entered.
Durham University Electric Motorsport (DUEM) is a student-run team in the United Kingdom that designs and constructs solar powered cars to compete in international competitions. DUEM is the longest running solar car team in the UK and is financed entirely by third party donations and sponsorship.
The Sunraycer was a solar-powered race car designed to compete in the World Solar Challenge, the world's first race featuring solar-powered cars. The Sunraycer was a joint collaboration between General Motors, AeroVironment, and Hughes Aircraft.
The Solar Car Challenge is an annual solar-powered car race for high school students. The event attracts teams from around the world, but mostly from American high schools. The race was first held in 1995. Each event is the end product of a two-year education cycle launched by the Winston Solar Car Team. On odd-numbered years, the race is a road course that starts at the Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas; the end of the course varies from year to year. On even-numbered years, the race is a track race around the Texas Motor Speedway. Dell sponsored the event from 2002-2008. Hunt Oil Company sponsored the 2010 race.
A solar car is a solar vehicle for use on public roads or race tracks. Solar vehicles are electric vehicles that use self contained solar cells to power themselves from sunlight. Solar vehicles typically contain a rechargeable battery to help regulate and store the energy from the solar cells and capture kinetic energy from the vehicle during braking. Some solar cars can be plugged into external power sources to supplement the power of sunlight used to charge their battery.
Solar car racing refers to competitive races of electric vehicles which are powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the surface of the car. The first solar car race was the Tour de Sol in 1985 which led to several similar races in Europe, US and Australia. Such challenges are often entered by universities to develop their students' engineering and technological skills, but many business corporations have entered competitions in the past. A small number of high school teams participate in solar car races designed exclusively for high school students.
The Cal State LA Solar Car Team is an engineering team from California State University, Los Angeles. The team develops the Solar Eagle, a series of solar cars that have taken part in solar car races in the United States and in Australia.
The University of Kentucky Solar Car Team is an independent, student-led project that operates as part of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering. The team's primary goal is to compete in the American Solar Challenge and the Formula Sun Grand Prix over the summer, but they also perform outreach events in which they display and discuss their car with nonmembers.
Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) is one of UK's solar car racing teams. A team of 60 Cambridge students designs, builds and races solar-powered vehicles. Founded in 2007, their first prototype vehicle, Affinity, became the first solar-powered car to drive legally on UK roads. CUER competes in the biennial World Solar Challenge. Their race vehicle for the 2013 race, Resolution, is known for its innovative tracking plate design and unusual teardrop shape. Evolution, builds upon this previous design and was entered into the 2015 race, where it became the best UK entry since 2007. In 2017, CUER built Mirage, which crashed before the race had begun due to "a sudden loss of dynamic stability". CUER switched from Challenger Class to Cruiser Class in 2019, however, early electrical issues prevented the team from progressing beyond the first stage of the race.
Nuna 1 was a car powered by solar power, developed by students from the Delft University of Technology.
Blue Sky Solar Racing is a student-run team at the University of Toronto that designs and constructs solar powered vehicles to race in international competitions.
The Western Sydney Solar Team is the student-led, multidisciplinary solar racing team of Western Sydney University based in Penrith, in Sydney, Australia. The team was founded in 2012 and competes in the biennial World Solar Car Challenge (WSC) from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia over a distance of 3,022 km (1,878 mi) through the Australian Outback. Since it was established, the team has competed in three World Solar Challenges, placing 11th in 2013, 10th in 2015 and 6th in 2017 in the Challenger Class.
Stella and its successors Stella Lux, Stella Vie and Stella Era are a series of solar racing family cars, built for the World Solar Challenge in Australia, sofar winning its Cruiser Class all four times it was held – in 2013, 2015, 2017 and in 2019. Stella is considered the world’s first solar-powered family car and was given the 'Best Technology Development' Award at the 8th annual Crunchies in San Francisco in 2015. Being the only competing vehicle with a license plate, the road registration of Stella contributed to the winning score in the races. The vehicles are designed and built by "Solar Team Eindhoven" (STE) — some 26 students of different faculties of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands. The group have set up a non-profit foundation to promote their concepts for practical solar vehicles for adoption on a broader scale.
Sonnenwagen Aachen is a current project by students from RWTH Aachen University and FH Aachen for the development and construction of a solar car, to participate in the World Solar Challenge in Australia. The solar car race with a length of 3022 km from Darwin in Northern Territory to Adelaide in South Australia is known to be the longest solar car race in the world and has celebrated its 30th anniversary in October 2017.
Top Dutch Solar Racing (TDSR) is a student solar racing team from Groningen, the Netherlands. It was founded in February 2017 and participated in the challenger class of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC) for the first time in 2019. In contrast to the cruiser class, cars competing in the challenger class are designed to reach the finishing line of the BWSC as fast and efficiently as possible. Due to the cancelation of the 2021 edition of the BWSC, Top Dutch Solar Racing plans on participating again in the 2023 edition.
