16/12/2009

First Place in the World Solar Challenge

On October 28, the Light Power Project team of the Student Project Center at Tokai University defeated other strong participants to win first prize in the solar car category at the Global Green Challenge, the world’s leading race for solar powered vehicles held in Australia.

In the competition, held from October 24 to 31, participating teams competed for the best time driving 3,000km down through Australia from Darwin to Adelaide. The historic race has been held since 1987 as “The World Solar Challenge.” This year, they changed the name of the race and set up two categories: the Eco Challenge and the World Solar Challenge. Fuel cell and electric vehicles participated in the Eco Challenge. Tokai University took part in the World Solar Challenge, in which more than 30 teams participated from all over the world, including MIT and Stanford University.

Tokai University’s vehicle “Tokai Challenger” had a good showing in a trial race on October 24. They started the final race the following day in fourth place and came out on top. Their vehicle maintained an average speed of 100km through almost the entire race and steadily covered distance. Although they got hit by sandstorms and other hardships along the way, the team joined together to maintain the vehicle and complete the race. Finally, they reached the goal in Adelaide at 2:39 p.m. (local time) on October 28, the fourth day of the race, to finish first by a wide margin.

Tokai Challenger is a new type of vehicle that students began designing at the end of last year. The vehicle was manufactured with support from companies that have expertise in various fields, such as high performance compound solar cells, provided by Sharp Corporation, motors and FRP (fiber reinforced plastic). In addition, the team had assistance from Mr. Kenjiro Shinozuka, a rally driver known worldwide and an alumnus of Tokai University. The team commented with happiness and gratitude, “We could achieve these results thanks to our many supporters.”