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7th World Solar Challenge Underway

Posted by michael on from the leave-only-footprints dept.

downundarob writes "At around 200310182230 UTC the World Solar Challenge will leave the start line. Entrants will traverse more than 3,000km of the Australian continent from tropical Darwin to balmy Adelaide, in cars powered by nothing more than the sun. One of the unique propositions of the World Solar Challenge is that it is run in one stage. Once competitors have left Darwin at 8am on the first day, they are on their own. Apart from compulsory stops at the seven checkpoints, each team endeavours to travel as far as it can each day, but must make camp by 5pm each evening."

3 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. what is the point of this? by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I mean realy, it doe snot extend our knowledge about solor power, it does not inovate or make new solutions. all it does is give universities with lots of money the ability to build super lite cars that run on solor power. big deal.

    I want to see an S prize. the first group that can develope the best price/performance ratio for solor power gets money or something, then the next time, the next prise it set to be 5% better than the last performance, and the money increases as the ratios get harder to reach.

    that would be exciting stuff.

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    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    1. Re:what is the point of this? by ModernGeek · · Score: 2, Interesting

      New ideas could be implemented into the solar cars though, like regenerating brakes, and it is a good project where you have to make somthing efficiant, efficiancy is somthing we don't see alot of nowdays.

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      Sig: I stole this sig.
  2. Mandatory Camp Time? by thelen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't like this mandatory 5 pm camp time. It seems to me that a critical test of solar technology for travel is being able to move even in low/no light situations, and thus of batteries. Why not give a start time and destination, and simply go by first across the finish line? If someone manages to build a machine that gets the optimal balance of power gathering plus battery capacity to maintain the highest average speed across lighting changes then they win.