Groningen is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of the country; as of December 2021, it had 235,287 inhabitants, making it the sixth largest city/municipality in the Netherlands and the second largest outside the Randstad.
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.
Hanze University of Applied Sciences is the largest University of Applied Sciences in northern Netherlands and located in Groningen.
Nuna is the name of a series of crewed 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 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 University of Michigan Solar Car Team is an engineering project team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor that designs, builds, and races some of the world's most advanced solar-electric vehicles. Having won the North American Solar Challenge (NASC) nine times, the team is regarded as the most successful in North America. Additionally, the is highly competitive on the global stages having placed third in the World Solar Challenge (WSC) six times, and placing second in 2017 – the best ever achieved by an American collegiate team. Many of the team's 16 vehicles are on display in museums in the United States and abroad.
Sunswift Racing 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 7 cars, the most recent of which is Sunswift 7.
The Solutra is the first solar car designed by a group of students, the Raedthuys Solar Team, of the University of Twente. It participated in the 8th World Solar Challenge in 2005 and finished 9th place. Another Dutch team won the race with their car Nuna 3.
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 Solar Car, formerly Durham University Electric Motorsport, is a student-run team in the United Kingdom that designs and constructs solar powered cars to compete in international competitions. It is the longest running solar car team in the UK and is financed entirely by third party donations and sponsorship.
The Sasol Solar Challenge is a South African endurance challenge for solar-powered vehicles, with classes for hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and biofuel-powered vehicles as well. Recognised by the International Solarcar Federation, the first challenge was run in 2008, and every two years thereafter. The event covers roughly 2,500 km, but has set loops for teams to repeat, with the potential to do 5,000 km. The current record, held by Dutch team Nuon, is 4,716 km, set in 2016 in their car Nuna. The challenge route may change from year to year. In 2022, it ran from Carnival City near Johannesburg to Cape Town over the course of 8 days. The challenge has both local South African teams from both high schools and universities participate, as well as some top-ranking international teams from Japan (Tokai), Belgium and the Netherlands.
The Nuna 4 is a solar car developed by the Delft University of Technology in 2006-2007 for the 2007 World Solar Challenge.
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.
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 University of Texas Solar Vehicles Team (UTSVT) is a student-driven effort to design, build, test, and race solar vehicles for the purpose of reinforcing skills learned in the classroom, raising awareness of solar power, and bringing solar power closer to practicality. To accomplish this task, a multidisciplinary group of students from various disciplines in the Cockrell School of Engineering, and from other schools across the University of Texas, such as the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Natural Sciences come together to design and construct the most efficient vehicle as possible.
ANU Solar Racing is the Australian National University's student-led solar car racing team. The team is built to innovate, bringing together a highly range of backgrounds ranging from engineering and science through to commerce and law. The team consists of all undergraduate students, and is split into an Executive Branch, Technical Branch, Operational Branch, and Business Branch. The team competes in the biennial World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide, covering 3,022 km of road. The next event for ANU Solar Racing event is the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.
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.
University of Nottingham Racing Team (UoNRT) is the University of Nottingham's student-run electric vehicle team. The team comprises two sub teams, namely Formula Student and Solar Challenge. The University of Nottingham also used to compete in the e-bike area, with its Power Electronics Machines and Control Research Group (PEMC) from the Faculty of Engineering. Working on new technologies they were awarded "best" EV at Formula Student UK 2021. The teams are currently developing a "Lighter, more efficient Formula Student car" and a 2-seater Solar Challenge car "designed around upcycled EV systems". The team relies on external sponsors to fund the development, manufacture and testing of the vehicle.
