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Solar-Powered Cars Race fron Austin to Calgary

Posted by timothy on from the other-way-would-seem-more-sensible dept.

dblizzard writes "The North American Solar Challenge race is about to start. Travelling at speeds of up to 130km/hr (80mph), these teams will race from Austin Texas to Calgary Alberta all with no non-reusable energy. Here's the race link, and here's some really cool photos of the Queens' University car."

15 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. WTF? by Quasar1999 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Non-reusable energy? Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it simply is transferred around. What does non-reusable mean exactly? Do they mean non-renewable?

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    Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
    1. Re:WTF? by Shkuey · · Score: 5, Funny

      In this house we obey the laws of thermodynamics!

    2. Re:WTF? by orzetto · · Score: 4, Interesting

      <Thermodynamics nazism>

      Energy is divided in two parts, exergy and anergy. Their sum (i.e. energy) is constant, as the first law of thermodynamics goes.

      Exergy is the part that you can convert in any form you like. Heat at ambient temperature is 100% anergy, since it's at equilibrium with its surroundings (yet it does contain energy, because those molecules are indeed moving around). Electricity is about 100% exergy, since it can be transformed in pretty much anything. Sunrays are in equilibrium with the sun's surface, about 5000 kelvin; therefore, they are about 1-300/5000=94% exergy. Heat used in cars, coal plants and gas turbines is exergy to various degrees depending on the combustion temperature.

      As there is no such thing as a free lunch in thermodynamics, exergy is destroyed and corresponding anergy generated in any (real) process. Destroyed exergy is equal (ideally) or larger (in practice) than the energy you actually use.

      So, all energy is non-reusable, because if you use it, you corrupt it to anergy, and you can't use it again; mathematically and physically it's still there, but not in a useful form: you can't use the same sunray twice. That's why quite some time ago someone came up with the word renewable, meaning that you are quite safe if you count on the sun delivering sunrays forever (at least on human scale).

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  2. Reusable solar energy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Great, so now I can use the same bit of sunlight over and over until I have enough power stored up to finally take over the world!

  3. Uhm by Andrew+Tanenbaum · · Score: 5, Informative

    Solar isn't reusable. There's just a lot of it.

  4. Speeds up 80 clicks? by lheal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why don't they just use the sunlight as direct propulsion? Then they'd go really fast.

    There's probably some reason they don't. Those people are really smart.

    Are there rules against travelling at close to light speed in these races? Oh, I see, they go throught towns. That must be it.

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    Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
    1. Re:Speeds up 80 clicks? by eta526 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually, they have to stay within the speed limit. That's the only reason they don't go faster. UMR won last time. I'm hoping they can take it again. http://news.umr.edu/news/2005/solarprkit05.html

  5. This is Uber smart :) :) :) by John+Seminal · · Score: 4, Interesting
    This is the smartest way to build new technologies. Find some really smart science kids (well maybe not kids, but at my age people in their 20's are puppies).

    Anyways, find these smart pups and have an open competition. Not only will the smart kids find ways to build things, but they must be economical. It is not like a lab at Motorola with millions of dollars.

    And third, patent everything these kids do, by a univeristy or some trusted public group, and let anyone use the patents for free (except Microsoft, fuck them).

    The genius of this system is kids love to compete and show off their genius. They will do it all for pride and because it is interesting. It stimulates their mind, they get caught up in it, and they build fantastic things. Meanwhile, everyone else benifits, no monopolies from these new inventions. And maybe the public group that holds these patents could use them as leverage against large companies, to force them to pay a fee, and in some cases to ban them from using the patent for their preditory buisness practices.

    This is how a community can help itself without giving one CEO compelete power to ruin lives.

    And I hope these kids build things that soon will be used in real cars, to reduce the amount of gasoline needed. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have cars with 100 miles per gallon of gas, and that emitted 1/10th the amount of pollution? It is possible.

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    Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."

  6. Looks like their web server is solar powered by Omega1045 · · Score: 3, Funny

    See subject line. The sun is just going down here in Austin, and I see their server is fried. Using the reasoning I have learned here at Slashdot, that means that their server must be solar powered!

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    Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein

  7. speed limits, safety? by SuperBanana · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Travelling at speeds of up to 130km/hr (80mph), these teams will race from Austin Texas to Calgary Alberta all with no non-reusable energy.

    That will be an impressive feat, with the US Federal highway speed limit of 65, and a Canadian speed limit on major roads up there not much faster; 100km/hr to 120km/hr, if I recall on my last trip?(it was months ago, sorry). Why is it that nobody else is allowed to break the speed limit, but these guys are? Particularly given their vehicles have about zero crashworthyness?

    I'm also curious how they plan to keep solar cars from mixing with general traffic; there has been at least one fatal accident involving a solar car (which came apart like paper mache) a few months ago when a solar vehicle was being tested.

    Honestly, what was wrong with an enduro race on a closed race circuit? At least then it would be more controllable, and emergency/rescue crews would be barely a minute or two from any participant. There are numerous reasons we do our racing OFF public roads...

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    1. Re:speed limits, safety? by fimbulvetr · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Although I'm pretty young and should drive fast and reckless, my A4 gets about 19-23mpg at 80MPH and about 34-38mpg at 60. I rarely drive to/from work faster than 55-60. Honestly, why would I? It doesn't feel like a race anymore once you slow down. It's kinda like that time when you forget to where your watch and never put it on again because of your newly discovered freedom.
      Not to mention how much longer one's car will last because you're not driving it like your insane.
      I see these benefits for taking my time:
      #1. Almost 2x the mpg.
      #2. Longer lasting car.
      #3. I don't live my life in a race.
      #4. I don't need to worry about speeding tickets.
      #5. (Probably) less accidents - my reaction time stays the same but my braking distance decreases.

      Tell me why it's cool to drive (not) really fast again? People like to think they're rebels over here because they can drive over 90. Pathetic.

      Oh, I even forgot to discuss the manslaughter charges when you get busted for speeds 100+. (Could be higher or lower in your state)

    2. Re:speed limits, safety? by ferds32 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'm also curious how they plan to keep solar cars from mixing with general traffic; there has been at least one fatal accident involving a solar car (which came apart like paper mache) a few months ago when a solar vehicle was being tested.

      The rules of this race and the World Solar Challenge are similar. (I believe this is deliberate, so a car built for one race can race in the other.) The cars are required to have escort vehicles at all times in the World Solar Challenge. I should imagine the American race would be the same.

      Honestly, what was wrong with an enduro race on a closed race circuit? At least then it would be more controllable, and emergency/rescue crews would be barely a minute or two from any participant. There are numerous reasons we do our racing OFF public roads...

      Racing on the roads gives vastly more public exposure to the technology. The public, at least in outback Australia and Japan, are facinated by the cars. Taking a few hybrids along means people also see the practical application of some of the technology and can even take a hybrid for a drive! None of that would happen on a closed circuit. There are circuit races as well, such as the Dream Cup, but they serve a quite different type of racing.

      --
      Tom Rowlands
      (Sorry, I can't sign this.)
  8. Hot Damn Tamale! by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 4, Funny

    The way the weather has been in Austin this last month, they should have enough power to fly to Calgary... if they don't burst into flames first.

    I have a mental image of a non-air conditioned vehicle dodging 18 wheelers on I-35.

    Hell on Earth. (Welcome to Texas)

  9. Re:Irony by gonk · · Score: 3, Informative

    A little FYI. Austin Energy leads the nation in green power. From www.austinenergy.com:

    "GreenChoice is the most successful utility-sponsored green power program in the nation with 383 million kWh in subscriptions at the end of 2004."

    robert
    (yes, I'm a GreenChoice household)

  10. Re:Irony by dubiousdave · · Score: 3, Funny

    Perhaps it's a clever new form of flamebait?

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