Stanford Car Runs on Golden Sunshine

Clouds: bane of the "rayce" and solar cars across the globe. However, no amount of recent inclement weather—clouds or otherwise—could keep Palo Alto from recognizing the achievements of the Stanford Solar Car Project, honoring the group this Tuesday in front of City Hall.

Palo Alto Mayor Judy Kleinberg commended the Stanford Solar Car Project for its victory in the 2005 North American Solar Challenge and its strides in innovation. The car, named Solstice, came in first in the stock class of the competition, known as the "rayce," which runs from Austin, Texas to Calgary, Canada.

The Stanford Solar Car Project is composed of 20 Stanford students and is funded by donations, with sponsors that include machine shops, software companies, and businesses that manufacture materials used in the solar car. In all, the students have $120,000 to use on whatever they need for the vehicle.

According to those involved, the project has many rewards, "Besides the excitement of doing something really unique," said Brian Cheung, a 25-year-old PhD student in mechanical engineering, "there is the satisfaction of contributing with alternative ways to building a car using solar cells and cutting edge technical knowledge." Cheung undertook the lead design of the chassis, body, and suspension for Solstice.

It is also a way for students to apply the things they have learned in the classroom.

Solstice, as a stock class car, had to use commercially available solar cells, as opposed to cars in the open class, which were free to use anything, such as space-grade solar technology.

Though limited by the quality of the solar cells, there was still some room for improvement. "These cells are normally manufactured in octagons, but to maximize the surface area of the array (and thereby the power), we decided to spend the extra money to cut the cells into rectangles," said Tommy Hanson, a 19-year-old mechanical engineering student, via email.

UC Berkeley, often the rival of Stanford, took second place in the stock class competition. A look on their website shows that they did not use the same technique of altering the cells.

In the actual race, drivers can take at most a six-hour shift, and the solar cars are followed by what is called a chase van, where the rest of the crew resides. Though Solstice can achieve speeds up to 78 mph, the rules of the "rayce" do not allow breaking the speed limit. The average speed is around 45 to 50 mph.

The Stanford group is looking to participate in the 2007 World Solar Challenge, which will take place in Australia. Those competing will include teams from Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, and the U.S. Beyond that, in 2008 there will be another North American Solar Challenge, which they hope to join again.