Solar Spirit The Solar Spirit team (TAFE SA in partnership with industry), aims to develop and build the fastest solar car for the 2013 World Solar Challenge. Solar Spirit is in the 2011 race, following research and design development and testing. Solar Spirit is a new competitive vehicle that will demonstrate to the world that TAFE SA is able to deliver world class training and technology… with the support of industry - now! The earlier TAFE SA solar car 'Kelly' was run in 2009 by high school students competing in the adventure class, re-named SolarShop Kelly. Kelly Overview Kelly was a sleek two-seater solar sports car capable of reaching speeds up to 110 km/h. It crossed Australia solely on power generated from sunlight, whereas each of the conventional support cars following RAA Kelly use hunderds of dollars worth of petrol for the trip. Technical Information | Kelly | | SolarSpirit Australia
| | (LxWxH) 6m x 2m x 0.9m | Size | (LxWxH) 5m x 1.8m x 1.4m | | 245 kgs | Mass | 270 kgs | | Modified BP Saturn, max. 1200 watts | Solar Cells | C60, 392 cells, 22.6%, 6 m2, 1350 W output STP | | 27 Electronic Solar Optimisers | Array Tracking | Optimisers | | 30Kg Lithium-Polymer, voltage 126V, 54Ah | Batteries | 22Kg Lithium-Ion 110V 40Ah | | NGM, 3 Phase DC 12 Pole, 3.75 kW Axial Flux, Brushless, Permanent Magnet 94% Eff | Wheel Motor | CSIRO 3 Phase DC 40 Pole, 1.8 kW Axial Flux, Brushless, Permanent Magnet 97.4% Eff (Parts designed to suit Solar Spirit by Cobham) | | Dunlop Solamax 2.25 x 16 | Tyres | SavaKran MC2 16x2.5 and Michelin
| | Tritium Waveform Ultra High Efficiency | Motor Controller | Tritium Waveform Ultra High Efficiency | | Carbon Fire on Nomex Honeycomb | Body | Kevlar | | Balanced Hydraulic, lightweight | Brakes | Balanced Hydraulic twin circuit, lightweight | | 120+ km/h | Speed | designed average 80km/h
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How Solar Cars Work  This diagram gives a general idea how energy flows in a solar car. The sunlight hits the cells of the solar array, which produces an electrical current. The energy (current) can travel to the batteries for storage, go directly to the motor controller, or a combination of both. The energy sent to the controller is used to power the motor that turns the wheel and makes the car move.
Generally, if the car is in motion, the converted sunlight is delivered directly to the motor controller, but there are times when there is more energy coming from the array than the motor controller needs. When this happens, the extra energy gets stored in the batteries for later use. When the solar array can't produce enough energy to drive the motor at the desired speed, the array's energy is supplemented with stored energy from the batteries. Of course, when the car is not in motion, all the energy from the solar array is stored in the batteries. |