Solar Team to Unveil 6th Generation Car
July 24th, 2011 by Leah Henrickson | Co-EditorThe Blue Sky Solar Racing Team is a U of T Engineering student club that works to design, construct, and race solar powered vehicles to advance renewable energy technology and promote environmental awareness. Since 1997, the club has represented the university in biennial solar racing events around the world.
On August 7th, on University of Toronto grounds, the team will unveil its most recent project – the Blue Sky sixth generation solar car. The Blue Sky Solar Racing Team’s challenge was to build the fastest and safest solar racing car in the world. Over the past four years, more than 300 team members have participated in the project to complete the car that will be used to race this season. The team’s Mechanical and Fabrication division designed and manufactured the car’s aerobodies and chassis, among other components. The Electrical and Strategy division designed, built, programmed, and debugged all of the electronic components for the car, including the solar array and the wiring of the driver interface. The power management and mechanical systems were designed to maximize the efficiency of the car’s power usage. Finally, the team fabricated and assembled the vehicle’s components. The finished product is less than 5 metres long and 1.8 metres wide. It weighs about 200 kilograms (about 270 kilograms with a driver) and is powered by 1300 Watts of power. The car is expected to average approximately 80 kilometers per hour, with a top speed of 140 kilometers per hour.
One of Blue Sky's designs - the Cerulean.
In October, the team will travel to Australia to participate in the World Solar Challenge, in which they will drive their new car 3000km from Darwin to Adelaide. The friendly competition will include student teams from more than 20 countries. This event celebrates educational and technical excellence while promoting a new generation of students to become involved in the development of sustainable transport.
Many students find balancing university student life tough in ordinary circumstances. For Blue Sky Team members, the responsibility of building a solar car, finding and managing funding and publicity, and managing the project’s personnel and deadlines makes balancing student life even tougher. For many, this means daily visits to the shop after classes, using ‘breaks’ from working on the car to do homework, and putting in many long weekends and late nights. However, as Business and Operations Manager Eric Ma says, ‘What sets us apart is our passion and dedication. While there will always be small failures, large complications and discouraging times, we always make it through because we can imagine ourselves in Australia, see the vehicle running smoothly, and see the end-result. I have every confidence that we have completed what set out to do: build one fantastic solar racing car. It is perhaps the best solar car ever made.’
To learn more about the Blue Sky Solar Racing Team and the unveiling of their new car, please visit blueskysolar.utoronto.ca or check out the team on Facebook.
While the author has altered, and added to, the original text, portions of this post have been taken directly from a press release distributed by the Blue Sky Solar Racing Team.
July 24th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
How can I join this Blue Sky Solar Racing Team?
July 25th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Hi Max,
Come out to the Engineering Annex at 11 King’s College Road in Room 104 and introduce yourself! We’re guaranteed to be in the workshop every weekday night after 5PM and every weekend.
See you around,
Eric