Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge

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The Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge is an annual solar-powered car race for high school students. The race attracts teams from around the world, but mostly from American high schools. The race was first held in 1995. Each race is the end product of a two year education cycle launched by the Winston Solar Car Team. On odd-numbered years, the race is a road course that starts at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas; the end of the race varies from year to year. On even-numbered years, the race is a track race around the Texas Motor Speedway. Dell has sponsored the race since 2002.^[1]

Contents 1 Objective 2 Important rules 3 Media coverage 4 See also 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Objective

The objective of this competition is to motivate students in the sciences, engineering, and technology and to learn about solar power. They will design, fund, build, and run a vehicle that is powered only by solar power.

[edit] Important rules

• There are three classes teams can be in. Classic, Open, and Demonstration. Open allows more powerful solar arrays. Classic and Demonstration limit solar arrays to terrestrial grade under 16%. Demonstration is a class for DWSSC alumni to participate in.
• Teams must pass a pre-race scrutineering of the car and team to be eligible to race.
• When there is a road race, all traffic regulations have to be followed. That includes speed limits, speeding results in a penalty of 5 miles (8.0 km) to disqualification. When approaching a stop sign all vehicles are required to come to a complete stop at the stop sign, if the caravan get separated because of this they are to pull off at the first safe spot to regroup.
• Team may have as many drivers as they wish. There is no ballast requirements. Drivers must have valid license and pass a driver check course prior to race start.
• Driving begins at 0900 (local time) and teams are allowed to run for 8 hours. Start times are offset to allow for space between racers, but offset times still get 8 hours (example, start at 0915, end at 1715).
• At various points along the route there are rest stops where every car has to pause for a minimum amnount of time. The amount of time required is "off-the-clock" (for the sake of calculating average speed).
• Batteries used to store solar power must be lead-acid. Also, the weight of all batteries combined cannot be more than 275 pounds (125 kg). No provision is made to limit number of modules, number of cells, or voltages.
• Each solar car is required to have a dual braking system, operated by separate hand and/or foot pedals. Regenerative brakes do not count toward this requirement.

[edit] Media coverage

The 2007 Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge was featured on CNN affiliate KLTV.^[2]

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] See also

Solar car racing

[edit] External links

• Dell-Winston School Solar Car Challenge Home Page

[edit] References

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