solar car

Iowa State’s solar car team prepares for 1,800-mile trek across Midwest

Nick Fetty Energy, News, Research, Sustainability , , , , ,

Members of Team PrISUm -- from left, Charlotte Brandenburg, Garret Coleman, Philip Gates, Arun Sondhi and Matt Goode -- are preparing their solar racing car for this summer's two races. Larger photo. (Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University News Service)
Members of Team PrISUm — from left, Charlotte Brandenburg, Garret Coleman, Philip Gates, Arun Sondhi and Matt Goode — are preparing their solar racing car for this summer’s two races. (Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University News Service)
Nick Fetty | July 21, 2016

Members of Iowa State University’s solar car team – PrISUm – are preparing for an 1,800-mile trek from Ohio to South Dakota.

Later this month Team PrISUm will compete in the Amesican Solar Challenge road race which will begin at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Brecksville, Ohio and end at Wind Cave National Park in Hot Springs, South Dakota. The race is in collaboration with the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and will include stops at national battlefields, monuments and historical parks. The route does not go through Iowa and instead cuts south across Missouri.

Prior to the American Solar Challenge (July 30-August 6), Team PrISUm will compete in a qualifying race at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex July 26-28. The team hopes to use these races to prepare them for the 2017 World Solar Challenge, a 1,900-mile trek across the Australian outback scheduled for next October.

Team PrISUm claimed its first overall victory last year during the Formula Sun Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The team and its car, Phaëton, bested the second place team by more than 31 laps and also recording the fastest lap of any of its competitors by about 14 seconds. The car, Phaëton, is named for the son of Greek sun god, Helios.

The team’s newest model, Phaëton 2, improved upon several aspects from the previous design including a new motor, new batteries, and live telemetry which allows the public to use the internet to track location, speed, and other metrics measured by the car.

PrISUm team members Charlotte Brandenburg, right, and Matt Goode look over the car's batteries and fuses outside the team's Sweeney Hall garage. (Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University News Service)
PrISUm team members Charlotte Brandenburg, right, and Matt Goode look over the car’s batteries and fuses outside the team’s Sweeney Hall garage. (Christopher Gannon/Iowa State University News Service)

University of Michigan wins 2014 American Solar Challenge, Iowa State University finishes 3rd

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Nick Fetty | July 29, 2014
The University of Michigan took first place at the 2014 American Solar Challenge which ended Tuesday. Photo by Ali Eminov; Flickr
The University of Michigan took first place at the 2014 American Solar Challenge.
Photo by Ali Eminov; Flickr

For the fifth-straight year, the University of Michigan took first place at the American Solar Challenge which concluded Monday.

Michigan’s race team – which included roughly 20 students – overcame its fair share of setbacks including various mechanical problems earlier in the summer as well as acceleration issues at the start of the race. The Wolverines persevered though and finished just 10 minutes ahead of Big Ten rival Minnesota to take the gold. Team PrISUm from Iowa State University finished third. The Cyclone team was briefly slowed down after being pulled over by law enforcement while driving through Wisconsin.

The eight-day race – which went from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis this year – gives engineering students from across the country the opportunity to design, build, and race a solar-powered car. The first American Solar Challenge was in 1990 and has occurred every other year since with some irregularity. This year’s event featured teams from 22 different universities including representation from countries as far away as Germany, Iran, and Taiwan.

On the Radio: American Solar Challenge passing through Iowa this weekend

KC McGinnis Energy, News, On the Radio , , , , ,

prisum2
Iowa State University’s solar car, built by students in Team PrISUm, runs a qualifying lap at the Formula Sun Gran Prix on July 18 (Team PrISUM Facebook page)

This week’s On the Radio segment looks at the American Solar Challenge, a 1700-mile solar car race that’s passing through Iowa this weekend. The race includes a car built by students at Iowa State University. Listen to the audio below, or continue reading for the transcript.

Transcript: American Solar Challenge

More than 20 student-designed solar-powered vehicles, including one from Iowa State University, will be racing through Iowa this weekend on July 26.

This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.

The 2014 American Solar Challenge, an eight-day, 1700-mile solar car race from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota will take a pit stop in Ames Saturday before the race’s final leg to Minneapolis. The competition is the culmination of more than two years of planning and construction by teams from all around the country.

Iowa State’s solar car team, Team PrISUm, will be making its its sixth appearance in the American Solar Challenge since the group started building solar cars in 1989. Their last solar car, Hyperion, was capable of reaching speeds of 70 miles per hour.

The race allows students to explore the capabilities of solar power while gaining hands-on engineering experience.

For more information about the American Solar Challenge, visit IowaEnvironmentalFocus.org.

From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Jerry Schnoor.

The Team PrISUm website

Team PrISUm’s Facebook page