Solar Team Eindhoven covered a distance of 875 km last week without recharging in the solar‑powered family car which they have developed themselves.
The students are in Australia preparing for the 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, to be held until 13 October.
The distance of 875 km (543.7 miles), covered under a partly cloud-filled sky, exceeds the team’s expectations, which were based on a maximum of 800 km (497 miles) in clear conditions.
Under the name of Solar Team Eindhoven, a group of students from TU/e came up with the idea of a solar-powered family car around one-and-a-half years ago.
The car draws most of its energy from the 6 m2 roof-mounted solar panels, but it also has batteries for longer distances and short bursts of acceleration. Their idea is now reality, and the car is taking part at the 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. The car’s most striking feature is that it’s ‘energy-positive’ – in normal everyday use it generates more power than it consumes. So that surplus energy can be delivered to the electricity grid.
2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge
University teams from all over the world are competing in a 3,000 km (1,864 miles) long race through the Australian outback. Solar Team Eindhoven is taking part in the Cruiser class in which the emphasis lies on practical and user-friendly solar cars rather than on speed. The ‘solar race’ takes place from 6 to 13 October 2013.[wzslider height=”400″ lightbox=”true”]
