The University of Kentucky is unveiling its new and improved Solar Car today on campus.
The “Gato Del Sol III” is the only solar car in the state of Kentucky. It runs solely on solar energy and will be competing against other prestigious engineering universities in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge. The challenge starts in July and entails a 2,400 mile race that begins in Texas and ends in Canada.
To qualify for the cross country race, each car must be inspected. Then the car must past a series of tests that include, speed and maneuverability in order to be included in the race.
The last North American Solar Challenge was in 2005. Gato Del Sol I passed inspection, but did not qualify for the race. A professor of mechanical engineering, and faculty adviser of the racing team said the car was too heavy… it weighed 900lbs. The first installation of the car cost about $70,000.
Gato Del Sol II was trimmed down a mere 635lbs., including the driver. It also got upgrades like better batteries, and more advanced solar cells. The improvements bumped the price of the vehicle to about $125,000.
The University of Kentucky contributed about 1/3 of the money it took to build the car, while sponsorship and fundraising took care of the rest.
Members of the Solar Car Team are mostly engineering majors and have been working on the innovative vehicles for the past two years. The students have named their series of cars Gato Del Sol I, Gato Del Sol II, and Gato Del Sol III after the 1982 Kentucky Derby winner.
Solar Car Team Captain, Matt Hatfield has worked on each version of the solar car since he’s been at UK. He says that solar cars are probable for the future, but they won’t be practical for a while. A sheet of solar panels cost about $500, and they are super frail, and can break if they are messed with too much, dropped, or if too much pressure is applied.
Hatfield says if solar cars are in our future, someone would have to find a way to mass produce solar cells, and make them stronger and more affordable.