UBC Solar: Fund our Solar Array!
We are building a solar-powered racing vehicle and due to the expensive nature of solar cells, we are requesting donations for this key component!
Story Description
UBC Solar is the solar-racing student design team of the University of British Columbia. We are building a solar powered racing vehicle for the 2019 Formula Sun Grand Prix, a three day track race around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Solar racing is a sport of innovation. The main source of power can only come from a solar array of six square metres, which provides around the same power as your electric hairdryer or toaster oven! Yet student teams are able to build cars highly optimized for the purpose of racing on solar power that are able to reach top speeds of 80 mph (130 km/h )! This will be our second car and we have high hopes that we will be able to test and race this car to establish UBC as a strong competitor in the solar racing community.
Challenges & the Impact of Your Support
The engineering behind an excellent solar car involves making all the components more efficient. However, high efficiency usually means higher cost. The best solar cars use the most efficient solar cells, the lightest structural composite materials and the best motors.
One of the larger expenses of building a solar car goes towards procuring the solar array that will ultimately power our car. Typically, solar cells are expensive and cost upwards of $35,000 to buy and encapsulate (for cell protection). All of the $12,000 will go towards buying the six square metres of solar arrays for our 2019 car! As a supporter, your donation will contribute directly to a new, working car in 2019!
About UBC Solar
UBC Solar provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to expand their knowledge outside the classroom in a highly interdisciplinary environment. Founded in 2009, our team had struggled with finishing our first car, finally bringing it to competition in the summer of 2017. Although we did not manage to compete in the race, we managed to pass the mechanical scrutineering test, which was a huge first step for the team. The current team is a group of 30 passionate students from diverse backgrounds in engineering and humanities. We have returned with a renewed passion for solar racing and are determined to build a car that is reliable and differentiable from other teams.
Learn more about our team and the project at www.ubcsolar.com.
