Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

CleanTechnica

Clean Power

Solar-Powered Vehicles Race across the United States

Solar-powered vehicle from University of Minnesota

[social_buttons]

Today is the start of the 2010 American Solar Challenge (ASC) race. Solar-powered vehicles will leave from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and head to Naperville, Illinois today. In three days, drivers will start in Topeka, Kansas and go to a checkpoint in Jefferson City, Missouri before heading to Rolla, Missouri.

Many of the solar-powered vehicle teams come from universities, like Stanford, Northwestern, Illinois State, and Iowa State University. But, like in the Solar Decathlon, some also come from other countries (i.e. Germany, Taiwan and Canada).

A total of 17 teams are participating in this year’s race.

“Researchers have been incorporating solar energy technology into a broader range of vehicles, from boats to automobiles and even airplanes. For example, the 2010 Toyota Prius even uses a small photovoltaic panel to help provide power for its interior,” CoolerPlanet reports. Perhaps we will see this race turn into a major national event in coming years.

For now, it looks quite interesting and fun, but still quite small.

For more info on the American Solar Challenge or World Solar Challenge, visit those links.

Image Credit: TJCoffey via flickr/CC license

 
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
 

Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:



I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
If you like what we do and want to support us, please chip in a bit monthly via PayPal or Patreon to help our team do what we do! Thank you!
Advertisement
 
Written By

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

Comments

You May Also Like

Climate Change

Canada's pipeline to nowhere keeps getting worse and worse for Canadians. And it's not like anyone in Alberta is thanking the federal Liberals for...

Batteries

There they go again: Georgia readies new flow battery for the red-hot home energy storage market.

Batteries

Nobody could have predicted that one day, red state right-to-work laws would attract electric vehicle manufacturers and help cement decarbonization into public policy.

CleanTechnica

Just when you think you've seen everything, America's National Parks says you ain't seen nothing yet.

Copyright © 2023 CleanTechnica. The content produced by this site is for entertainment purposes only. Opinions and comments published on this site may not be sanctioned by and do not necessarily represent the views of CleanTechnica, its owners, sponsors, affiliates, or subsidiaries.