Project Solaris
Race to the Future
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World Solar Challenge
Route of The Race
The World Solar Challenge motivates research and development into harnessing solar energy for future transport needs for many years. Competitors, driven by a motivation to win the greatest solar event in the world, can also rest easy in the knowledge that they are contributing towards a vital search for sustainable transport alternatives for future generations. The space age cars which travel at various speeds between Darwin and Adelaide on the sun's radiation and human's ingenuity alone give people an appreciation of a cleaner, better future using solar energy.
Danish born Adventurer, Hans Thostrup, created the World Solar Challenge. To understand what lead him to this, we should try and understand the man. Born in 1944, Tholstrup became a household name when he became the first person to circumnavigate Australia in a 16 foot open boat.
Years of participating in motor sport around the world, especially car rallies saw Hans busy wasting fuel until the fuel crisis in the late seventies. A new life began when he was inspired to find out how far rather than how fast you could go on a litre of petrol. This led to winning economy runs in cars and the establishment of the world's first economy run for trucks, and proving that driving style can be responsible for 30% of the fuel used in the transport of goods.
Another idea, sponsored by BP, was the crossing of Australia on just solar power. Larry Perkins helped Hans to drive the world's first solar car, the "Quiet Achiever", the 4052 kilometres between Sydney and Perth in 20 days. This, the ultimate energy saving crossing, was ten days faster than that by the first petrol engine car.
Hans was determined to build on these developments and continue to drive on the strength of sunshine. With man's first walk on the moon still fresh in people's memory, the time was ripe for solar invention. He felt that a race was the answer and thus the energy R&D event, the World Solar Challenge, was born.
The first World Solar Challenge was staged in 1987, with a field of 23 fantastic cars led by the GM Sunraycer which completed the trip with an average speed of 67km/h.
The cars in 1990 were a great improvement on 1987. Many competitors returned with the strength of experience, and new entries had another three years of R&D to create and refine their vehicles. The 1990 winner was the Biel team from a Swiss Engineering School. The townsfolk of Biel were responsible for donating one dollar each towards the success of the entry. With a school winning such a prestigious event, the World Solar Challenge became known as "Brain Sport".
1993 saw the 1987 GM Sunraycer record broken. Honda took the honours over Biel, and travelled 803 kilometres in one day. Yet again the entire field was impressive, and a sign of the event growing from strength to strength.
The goal of finishing the World Solar Challenge in four days was realised in 1996, when Honda repeated their performance with another stunning win, and a record average speed of 89.76 km/h. For most other competitors however, the race was far from over, with the remainder of the field spread out over 1700 km of the Stuart Highway. Over the ensuing six days a further 32 of the original 46 competitors would cross the finish line to complete their epic 3000km journey.
Following the 1996 event, Tholstrup sold up. The eventual winner of the bids was the State of South Australia, who announced an event in 1998, however many reasons lead to the "deferment" of the 1998 event, which was eventually run in 1999 under the new leadership of Chris Selwood. The 1999 event saw 43 teams from 14 countries traverse the continent, and the Australian "Aurora" team won the event.
A commitment to support the International Solar Energy Society World Congress in 2001 saw the event restaged once more, with new records set. 2001 also saw the introduction of the "Demonstration Class" which was designed to showcase vehicles exhibiting practical technology that has evolved from the World Solar Challenge.
An in depth evaluation of the aims and outcomes of the event, together with a survey of teams and stake holders showed the World Solar Challenge to be the premier solar car event in the world, with a large majority supporting a biennial program.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Curabitur nibh. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Vestibulum sapien enim, cursus in, aliquam sit amet, convallis eget, metus. Duis dui mi, varius at, lacinia eget, ullamcorper et, tortor. Pellentesque ac pede. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean orci mi, varius eget, mollis vel, rhoncus a, leo. Ut eros enim, vehicula quis, gravida ac, sodales sit amet, orci. Nulla eleifend tristique erat. Sed ac est. Fusce tincidunt luctus tortor. Quisque sed neque vitae elit cursus faucibus.
Official
Website of World Solar Challenge.