World Solar Challenge

World Solar Challenge

World Solar Challenge
Venue	Stuart Highway
Location	Australia
Corporate sponsor	Bridgestone
First race	1987
Last race	2015
Distance	3022 km
Most wins (team)	Nuon (Challenger) Eindhoven (Cruiser)

3,000km route of World Solar Challenge.

Nuna 3 of five time victors, Dutch Nuna team

The winner of 2009 Global Green Challenge, "Tokai Challenger", Japan Tokai University Solar Car Team

Nuna 7, winner of the 2013 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge

The World Solar Challenge or the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge due to the sponsorship of Bridgestone Corporation is a biennial solar-powered car race which covers 3,022 km (1,878 mi) through the Australian Outback, from Darwin, Northern Territory to Adelaide, South Australia.^[1]

The race attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations although some are fielded by high schools. The race has a 28-year history spanning thirteen races, with the inaugural event taking place in 1987.

The 30th anniversary event will be held October 8–15, 2017.

Objective

The objective of this competition is to promote research on solar-powered cars. Teams from universities and enterprises participate. In 2015, 43 teams from 23 countries competed in the race.^[2]

Racing strategy

Efficient balancing of power resources and power consumption is the key to success during the race. At any moment in time the optimal driving speed depends on the weather forecast and the remaining capacity of the batteries. The team members in the escort cars will continuously remotely retrieve data from the solar car about its condition and use these data as input for prior developed computer programs to work out the best driving strategy.

It is equally important to charge the batteries as much as possible in periods of daylight when the car is not racing. To capture as much solar energy as possible, the solar panels are generally directed such that these are perpendicular to the incident sun rays. Sometimes the whole solar array is tilted for this purpose.

Important rules

• The timed portion of the race stops at the outskirts of Adelaide, 2998 km from Darwin. However, for the timings recorded at that point to count, competitors must reach the official finish line in the centre of the city under solar power alone.
• As the race is over public roads, the cars have to adhere to the normal traffic regulations; however, there is a special note in the official regulations remarking on the tendency of drivers to take advantage of a favourable road camber in order to capture the maximum amount of solar energy. After midday when the sun is in the west, it would be advantageous to drive on the right side of the highway, provided, of course, there is no traffic in opposite direction.
• A minimum of 2 and maximum 4 drivers have to be registered. If the weight of a driver (including clothes) is less than 80 kg (180 lb), ballast will be added to make up the difference.
• Driving time is between 8:00 and 17:00 (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). In order to select a suitable place for the overnight stop (alongside the highway) it is possible to extend the driving period for a maximum of 10 minutes, which extra driving time will be compensated by a starting time delay the next day.
• At various points along the route there are checkpoints where every car has to pause for 30 minutes. Only limited maintenance tasks (no repairs) are allowed during these compulsory stops.
• The capacity of the batteries is limited to a mass for each chemistry (such as Lithium Ion) equivalent to approximately 5 kWh maximum. At the start of the race, the batteries may be fully charged. Batteries may not be replaced during the competition, except in the situation of a breakdown. However, in that case a penalty time will apply.
• Except for the maximum outer dimensions, there are no further restrictions on the design and construction of the car.
• The deceleration of the dual braking system must be at least 3.8 m/s² (149.6 in/s²).

Rule evolution

• By 2005, several teams were handicapped by the South Australian speed limit of 110 km/h (68 mph), as well as the difficulties of support crews keeping up with 130 km/h (81 mph) race vehicles. It was generally agreed that the challenge of building a solar vehicle capable of crossing Australia at vehicular speeds had been met and exceeded. A new challenge was set: to build a new generation of solar car, which, with little modification, could be the basis for a practical proposition for sustainable transport.
• Entrants to the 2007 race chose between racing in the Adventure and Challenge classes. Challenge class cars were restricted to 6 square meters of Si solar collectors (a 25% reduction), and later to 3 square meters for GaAs, driver access and egress were required to be unaided, seating position upright, steering controlled with a steering wheel, and many new safety requirements were added. Competitors also had to adhere to the new 130 km/h (81 mph) speed limit across the Northern Territory portion of the Stuart Highway. The 2007 event again featured a range of supplementary classes, including the Greenfleet class, which features a range of non-solar energy-efficient vehicles exhibiting their fuel efficiency.
• For the 2009 challenge class several new rules were adopted, including the use of profiled tyres. Battery weight limits depend on secondary cell chemistries so that competitors have similar energy storage capabilities. Battery mass is now 20 kg for Li-ion and Li-polymer battery (was reduced from 25 and 21 kg in the past).
• In 2013, a new Cruiser Class was introduced. The race took place in four stages. Final placings were based on a combination of time taken (56.6%), number of passengers carried (5.7%), battery energy from the grid between stages (18.9%), and a subjective assessment of practicality (18.9%)
• In the 2015 Cruiser Class regulations, the scoring formula emphasized practicality less than before. Elapsed time will account for 70% of the score, passengers 5%, grid energy use 15%, and practicality 10%.
• In 2017, solar array areas were reduced, and the Cruiser Class was changed to a Regularity Trial, with scoring based on energy efficiency and practicality.

History

The idea for the competition originates from Danish-born adventurer Hans Tholstrup. He was the first to circumnavigate the Australian continent in a 16-foot (4.9 m) open boat. At a later stage in his life he became involved in various competitions with fuel saving cars and trucks. Already in the 1980s, he became aware of the necessity to explore sustainable energy as a replacement for the limited available fossil fuel. Sponsored by BP, he designed the world's first solar car, called The Quiet Achiever, and traversed the 4,052 km (2,518 mi) between Sydney, New South Wales and Perth, Western Australia in 20 days. That was the precursor of the World Solar Challenge.

After the 4th race, he sold the rights to the state of South Australia and leadership of the race was assumed by Chris Selwood.

The race was held every three years until 1999 when it was switched to every two years.

1987

The first edition of the World Solar Challenge was run in 1987 when the winning entry, GM's Sunraycer won with an average speed of 67 km/h (42 mph).^[3] Ford Australia's "Sunchaser" came in second. The "Solar Resource", which came in 7th overall, was first in the Private Entry category.^[4]

Results
Position	Team	Country	Race Timer (HRS:MIN)	Avg. Speed (km/h)	Avg. Speed (mi/h)
1	General Motors	United States	44:90	66.90	41.57
2	Australian Ford (Aurora)	Australia	67:53	44.48	27.64
3	Ingenieurschule, Biel	Switzerland	69:97	42.94	26.68
4	Australian Geographic	Australia	81:43	36.89	22.92
5	Charles Darwin University	Australia	95:45	31.47	19.55
6	Chisholm Institute of Technology	Australia	98:20	30.59	19.01
7	Solar Resource Syndicate	Australia
8	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
9	Alarus	Australia
10	Chariot of the Sun	Denmark
11	Hoxan Corporation	Japan
12	Morphett Vale High School	Australia
13	Semiconductor Energy Lab	Japan

1990

The 1990 World Solar Challenge was won by the "Spirit of Biel", built by Biel School of Engineering and Architecture in Switzerland followed by Honda in second place.^[5] Video coverage here.

Results
Position	Team	Country	Race Timer (HRS)	Avg. speed (km/h)	Avg. speed (mi/h)
1	Ingenieurschule, Biel	Switzerland	46.13	65	41
2	Honda R&D	Japan	55.00	55	34
3	University of Michigan	United States	57.25	53	33
4	Hoxan	Japan	57.35	53	33
5	Western Washington University	United States	58.20	54	32
6	Australian Energy Research Laboratory	Australia	59.90	50	31
7	University of Maryland	United States	60.71	50	31
8	Crowder College	United States	62.96	48	30
9	Barossa	Australia	63.29	48	30
10	Cal State LA	United States	67.76	44	28
11	Cal Poly Pomona	United States	68.03	44	28
12	Northern Territory University	Australia	69.61	43	27
13	Monash University / Melbourne University	Australia	69.81	43	27
14	Kyocera	Japan	71.38	42	26
15	Star Micronics Pty Ltd.	Australia	80.06	38	23
16	Simon Co Ltd	Japan	90.94	33	21
17	Dimitri Lajovic	Australia	94.71	32	20
18	Konawaena High School	United States	96.21	31	20
19	Dripstone High School	Australia	96.57	31	19
20	Annesley College	Australia	96.83	31	19
21	Hirotaka Oyabu	Japan	96.83	30	19
22	Waseda University	Japan	96.83	30	19
23	Stewart Lister	New Zealand	96.83	29	18
24	Queens University	Canada	96.83	26	16
25	Aisin Seiki Co/AISOL	Japan	96.83	25	16
26	Yamawaki	Japan	96.83	22	14
27	Solar Research Association		96.83	21	13
28	Semiconductor Energy Lab	Japan	96.83	21	13
29	Helio Det	Germany	96.83	20	13
30	Michiro Eguchi	Japan	96.83	19	12
31	Sonderborg Teknikum	Denmark
32	Morphett Value High School	Australia	retired	16	10
33	Phil Farrand	UK	retired	12	8
34	Nobuaki Hosokawa	Japan	retired	3	2
35	Mark Jensen		retired	13	8

1993

The 1993 World Solar Challenge was won by the Honda Dream, and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture took second.^[6] Video coverage here.

Results
Position	Team	Country	Race Timer (HRS:MIN)	Avg. speed (km/h)	Avg. speed (mi/h)
1	Honda R&D	Japan	35:28	84.96	52.79
2	Eng. Col. Biel	Switzerland	38:30	78.27	48.64
3	Kyocera	Japan	42:35	70.76	43.97
4	Waseda University	Japan	42:50	70.35	43.71
5	Aurora	Australia	43:00	70.08	43.55
6	Toyota	Japan	46:34	64.71	40.21
7	Northern Territory University	Australia	46:50	64.34	39,98
8	Cal Poly Pomona	United States	47:21	63.64	39.54
9	George Washington University	United States	47:46	63.08	39.20
10	Zero 2 Darwin	Australia	48:38	61.96	38.50
11	University of Michigan	United States	49.07	61.35	38.12
12	Nissan Motor Company	Japan	50:21	59.85	37.19
13	Cal State LA	United States	50:37	59.53	36.99
14	Stanford University	United States	51:38	58.36	36.26
15	Philips Solar Kiwi	New Zealand	60:36	49.72	30.90
16	Mabuchi Motor	Japan	60:57	49.44	30.72
17	Sofix	Japan	64:56	46.41	28.84
18	Tokai University	Japan	74:22	40.52	25.18
19	Monash University / Melbourne University	Australia	74:50	40.27	25.02
20	Laughing Sun	Japan	75:48	39.75	24.70
21	Mino Family	Japan	76:21	39.47	24.53
22	University of Oklahoma	United States	79:37	37.85	23.52
23	Sonderborg Tekikum	Denmark	79:43	37.80	23.49
24	Ashiya University	Japan	79:48	37.76	23.46
25	Dripstone High School	Australia	81:17	37.76	23.03
26	Panda-san	Japan	84:15	35.77	22.23
27	Solar Flair	UK	84:57	35.47	22.04
28	KIA Motors	South Korea	85:27	35.26	21.91
29	Team Alarus	Australia	86:42	34.76	21.50
30	Annesley College	Australia	87:35	34.48	21.38
31	Hokuriku Electric	Japan	89:47	33.56	20.85
32	Hokkaido Auto	Japan	87:30	32.08	19.93
33	Team Doraemon	Japan	79:50	34.77	21.61
34	Solar Japan	Japan	80:10	31.73	19.72
35	Mitcham Girls High School	Australia	80:10	27.39	17.02
36	Morphett Vale High School	Australia	67:13	31.33	19.47
37	University of Puerto Rico	United States	62:36	30.08	18.69
38	Team New England	United States	53:02	28.13	17.48
39	Le Soleil	Japan	56:34	26.38	16.39
40	University of Western Ontario	Canada	63:51	23.37	14.52
41	Team TR50	UK	71:20	20.92	13.00
42	San Diego State University, Suntrakker	United States	52:10	20.55	12.77
43	Northern Territory Institute of T.A.F.E.	Australia	37.34	26.22	16.29
44	Meadowbank T.A.F.E.	Australia	26:17	24.05	14.94
45	Villanova University	United States	20:50	15.07	9.36
46	JCJS Solar Car	Japan	21:55	14.33	8.90
47	Banana Enterprise	Brazil	16:40	15.12	9.40
48	Hama Yumeka	Japan	15:25	15.03	9.34
49	Team Heliox	Switzerland	08:23	24.69	15.34
50	Team Moscow	Russia	03:35	9.77	6.07

1996

In the 1996 World Solar Challenge, the Honda Dream and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture once again placed first and second overall, respectively.^[7]

Results
Place	Car no.	Team name	Country	Time and day of finish	Time (hr:mm)	Average dpeed (km/h)	Total distance
1	1	Honda R&D	Japan	Finished @ 17:26 / 30th	33:32	89.76	3010
2	2	United High Schools of Biel	Switzerland	Finished @ 10:10 / 31st	35:00	86.00	3010
3	3	Aisin Seiki Co Ltd	Japan	Finished @ 12:26 / 31st	37:18	80.70	3010
4	33	Mitsubishi	Japan	Finished @ 11:17 / 1st	45:07	66.72	3010
5	52	University of Queensland	Australia	Finished @ 12:34 / 1st	46:24	64.87	3010
6	23	Waseda University	Japan	Finished @ 12:48 / 1st	46:38	64.55	3010
7	15	Northern Territory University	Australia	Finished @ 14:12 / 1st	48:02	62.66	3010
8	24	O.S.U.	Japan	Finished @ 16:02 / 1st	49:52	60.36	3010
9	99	University of New South Wales	Australia	Finished @ 13:42 / 2nd	56:32	53.24	3010
10	60	Tokyo Salesian Polytechnic	Japan	Finished @ 09:36 / 3rd	61.26	49.00	3010
11	100	Queens University	Canada	Finished @ 09:39 / 3rd	61.29	48.96	3010
12	96	University of Western Ontario	Canada	Finished @ 12:09 / 3rd	63.59	47.04	3010
13	10	Tokai HS	Japan	Finished @ 13:45 / 3rd	65.35	45.90	3010
14	20	Mino Family	Japan	Finished @ 15:07 / 3rd	66.57	44.96	3010
15	17	Tokai University	Japan	Finished @ 15:20 / 3rd	67.10	44.81	3010
16	5	Lake Tuggeranong College	Australia	Finished @ 15:25 / 3rd	67.15	44.76	3010
17	88	Crested Ibis	Japan	Finished @ 16:01 / 3rd	67.51	44.36	3010
18	53	SunBa	Brazil	Finished @ 16:01 / 3rd	68.43	43.80	3010
19	777	Team Kataro	Japan	Finished @ 17:46 / 3rd	70.12	42.88	3010
20	8	Helios	France	Finished @ 09:59 / 4th	70.49	42.50	3010
21	400	France for W.S.C.	France	Finished @ 10:41 / 4th	71.31	42.90	3010
22	6	Hokkaido Automo. Eng. College	Japan	Finished @ 11:32 / 4th	72.22	41.59	3010
23	2001	Kirenjaku	Japan	Finished @ 12:27 / 4th	73.17	41.07	3010
24	45	Nippon Electronics College	Japan	Finished @ 12:44 / 4th	73.34	40.91	3010
25	16	UC Berkeley / Stanford University	United States	Finished @ 13:27 / 4th	74.17	40.52	3010
26	32	Soenderborg Teknikum	Denmark	Finished @ 13:31 / 4th	74.21	40.48	3010
27	66	Northern Sun	Canada	Finished @ 13:35 / 4th	74.25	40.45	3010
28	999	Jona Sun	Japan	Finished @ 15:09 / 4th	75.59	39.61	3010
29	49	Yokohama National University	Japan	Finished @ 10:14 / 5th	80:04	37.59	3010
30	69	Pumpkinseed	Japan	Finished @ 12:54 / 5th	82:44	36.38	3010
31	18	Annesley College	Australia	Finished @ 14:01 / 5th	83:51	35.90	3010
32	9	South Bank University	UK	Finished @ 14:14 / 5th	84:04	35.80	3010
	11	Los Altos High School (Hacienda Heights, California)	United States	North of Adelaide
	19	Akita	Japan	North of Adelaide
	29	Mexico Team	Mexico	withdrawn			1927.2
	21	Detlef Schmitz	Germany	withdrawn			1690

1999

The 1999 World Solar Challenge was finally won by a "home" team, the Australian Aurora team's Aurora 101 took the prize while Queen's University was the runner-up in the closely contested WSC so far. The SunRayce class of American teams was won by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[8]

Results
Place	Car no.	Car name	Country	Date in	Time in	Distance (km)	Travel time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	101	Aurora	Australia	21/10	4.36	2998.7	41:06	72.96
2	100	Queens University	Canada	21/10	5.03	2998.7	41:33	72.12
3	52	University of Queensland	Australia	22/10	8.20	2998.7	41:50	71.86
4	15	Northern Territory University	Australia	22/10	8.44	2998.7	42:14	71.00
5	3	Kanazawa Institute of Technology	Japan	22/10	11.03	2998.7	44:33	67.31
6	8	Tamagawa Solar Challengers	Japan	22/10	11.56	2998.7	45:26	66.00
7	10	Lake Tuggeranong College	Australia	22/10	12.01	2998.7	45:31	65.86
8	6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	22/10	12.04	2998.7	45:34	65.81
9	2	University of Michigan	United States	22/10	2.04	2998.7	47:34	63.04
10	24	Osaka Sangyo University	Japan	22/10	2.51	2998.7	48:21	62.02
11	4	Solar Motions	United States	22/10	2.51	2998.7	48:21	62.02
12	58	Helios	France	22/10	5.32	2998.7	51:24	58.34
13	1	Tokai Shoyo High School	Japan	23/10	9.50	2998.7	52:20	57.30
14	26	SA Solar Car Consortium	Australia	23/10	12.43	2998.7	55:13	54.31
15	999	Jona Sun	Japan	23/10	1.15	2998.7	55:45	53.79
16	65	Tokyo Salesian Polytechnic	Japan	23/10	2.21	2998.8	56:51	52.75
17	16	Junkyard	Japan	23/10	2.24	2998.7	56:54	52.70
18	50	University of New South Wales	Australia	23/10	2.44	2998.7	57:14	52.39
19	5	Aoyama Gakuin	Japan	23/10	3.51	2998.7	58:21	51.39
20	41	Southbank University of ESC	UK	23/10	4.41	2998.7	59:11	50.67
21	23	Central Queensland University	Australia	24/10	8.57	2998.7	60:27	49.61
22	142	University of Missouri-Rolla	United States	24/10	11.55	2998.7	63:27	47.26
23	35	University of Minnesota	United States	24/10	12.01	2998.7	63:31	47.21
24	63	Futura	Italy	24/10	1.42	2998.7	65:12	45.99
25	124	University of Waterloo	Canada	25/10	2.45	2998.7	75:15	39.85
26	2001	Kirenjaku	Japan	26/10	12:00	2998.7	81:30	36.79
27	634	Kashiwa kai-Musashi Tech	Japan	26/10	1.38	2998.7	83:08	36.07
28	22	Shiga SPD Polytech College	Japan	26/10	2.09	2998.7	83:39	35.85
29	13	Kormilda College	Australia	26/10	withdrawn	2998.7
30	18	Annesley College	Australia	24/10	withdrawn	1842.0
31	27	Detlef Schmitz	Germany	23/10	withdrawn	1591.0
32	34	Club Solar Car Denmark	Denmark	23/10	withdrawn	1489.0
33	28	Sunspeed Singapore Polytech	Singapore	21/10	withdrawn	987.0
34	12	Dripstone High School	Australia	20/10	withdrawn	830.0
35	42	Southern Cross College	Australia	20/10	withdrawn	830.0
36	58	Newburgh Sol Machine	United States	19/10	withdrawn	522.0
37	1999	Winston HS	United States	19/10	withdrawn	475.0
38	33	Tsuroka National College of Technology	Japan	19/10	withdrawn	421.0
39	9	Solar Stealth	United States	19/10	withdrawn	387.0
40	51	Mannum High School	Australia	17/10	withdrawn	70.0

2001

The 2001 World Solar Challenge was won by Nuna of the Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands, participating for the first time. Aurora took second place.^[9]

Results
Rank	Team	Country	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	91.81
2	Aurora	Australia	90.26
3	University of Michigan	United States	87.37
4	Solar Motions	United States
5	University of Missouri-Rolla	United States
6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
7	Lake Tuggeranong College	Australia
8
9
10
11
12	University of Toronto	Canada
13
14	HelioDet	Germany
15
16	Bochum	Germany
17	Ashiya University	Japan

2003

In the 2003 World Solar Challenge Nuna 2, the successor to the winner of 2001 won again, with an average speed of 97 km/h (60 mph), while Aurora took second place again.^[10]

Results
Rank	Team	Country	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	30:54	97.02
2	Aurora	Australia	32:37	91.90
3	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	32:52	91.20
4	Queens University	Canada	38:16	78.33
5	Bochum	Germany	40:56	73.24
6	Principia College	United States	41:20	72.53
7	Apollo	Taiwan	44:00	68.13
8	SA Consortium	Australia	45:15	66.25
9	Aoyama Gakuin University	Japan	49:26	60.65
10	Aurora/RMIT	Australia	52:36	56.99

2005

In the 2005 World Solar Challenge the top finishers were the same for the third consecutive race as Nuon's Nuna 3 won with a record average speed of 102.75 km/h (63.85 mph), and Aurora was the runner-up.^[11]

Results
Rank	Team	Country	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	102.75
2	Aurora	Australia	92.03
3	University of Michigan	United States	90.03
4	Ashiya University	Japan
5	Formosun	Taiwan
6	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
7	Apollo	Taiwan
8	Bochum	Germany
9	University of Twente	Netherlands
10
11	Umicore Solar Car	Belgium
12	TAFE SA	Australia

2007

The 2007 World Solar Challenge saw the Dutch Nuon Solar team scored their fourth successive victory with Nuna 4 in the challenge class averaging 90.07 km/h (55.97 mph) under the new, more restrictive rules, while the Belgian Punch Powertrain Solar Team's Umicar Infinity placed second.^[12]

Challenge results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	2999	33:00	90.87
2	Umicore	Belgium	2999	34:36	88.05
3	Aurora	Australia	2999	35:17	85.00
4	Bochum Solar World 1	Germany	2999	41:09	72.87
5	Southern Taiwan University	Taiwan	2999	44:08	67.95
6	University of Twente	Netherlands	2999	44:46	66.83
7	University of Michigan	United States	2999	44:55	66.76
8	University of Calgary	Canada	2999	51:43	57.98
9	University of Waterloo	Canada	2999	54:49	54.70
10	Helios	France	2999	59:24	50.80
11	Solar Fox	UK	2719
12	Sinag	Philippines	2691
13	Sun Speed	France	2002
14	University of Chile	Chile	1862
15	Queens University	Canada	1345
16	Leeming HS	Australia	1050
17	Gwawr	UK	740
18	Heliox	Switzerland	735
19	University of Malaya	Malaysia	250

The Japanese Ashiya team's Tiga won the adventure class under the old rules with an average speed of 93.53 km/h (58.12 mph).

Adventure results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Ashiya University	Japan	2999	32:03	93.57
2	Apollo	Taiwan	2999	35:43	83.96
3	Southern Aurora	Australia	2999	40:44	73.63
4	Sunswift	Australia	2999	44:11	67.88
5	University of Toronto	Canada	2999	46:19	64.74
6	Christine Aurora	Australia	2999	46:33	64.42
7	TAFE SA	Australia	2999	50:52	58.95
8	Salesian Polytechnic University	Japan	2999	58:19	51.42
9	Towards Tomorrow	Australia	2896
10	University Tech Malaysia	Malaysia	2719
11	HelioDet	Germany	2517
12	Solar Fern	New Zealand	2233
13	Stanford University	United States	1864
14	University of Western Ontario	Canada	1680
15	Hachinohe Institute of Technology	Japan	1675
16	Polytechnique Montreal	Canada	1772
17	Willetton	Australia	729
18	Houston HS	United States	143

2009

The 2009 World Solar Challenge was won by the "Tokai Challenger", built by the Tokai University Solar Car Team in Japan with an average speed of 100.54 km/h (62.47 mph). The longtime reigning champion Nuon Solar Team's Nuna 5 finished in second place.^[13]

Challenger results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Tokai University	Japan	3021	29:49	100.54
2	Nuon	Netherlands	3021	32:38	91.88
3	University of Michigan	United States	3021	33:08	90.49
4	University of New South Wales	Australia	3021	39:18	76.28
5	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	3021	40:41	73.70
6	Aurora	Australia	3021	42:20	70.82
7	Principia College	United States	3021	43:23	69.11
8	University of Twente	Netherlands	3021	44:53	66.80
9	Bochum Solar World 1	Germany	2896
10	Stanford University	United States	2719
11	Nanyang Technological University	Singapore	1953
12	Bochum Bo Cruiser	Germany	1850
13	Belenos	France	1645
14	University of Cambridge	UK	1616
15	Sakarya University	Turkey	1437
16	Istanbul University	Turkey	1380
17	Heliox	Switzerland	1042
18	Leeming HS	Australia	950
19	Willetton HS	Australia	906
20	Umicore	Belgium	380
21	Polytechnique Montreal	Canada	287
22	Uniten Solar Ranger Team	Malaysia	250
23	McMaster University	Canada	146
24	ETS	Canada	96

The Sunswift IV built by students at the University of New South Wales, Australia was the winner of the silicon-based solar cell class, while Japan's Osaka Sangyo University's OSU Model S won the Adventure class.

Adventure results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	OSU	Japan	3021	34:45	86.27
2	Southern Aurora	Australia	3021	44:17	67.71
3	Goko HS	Japan	2719		61.77
4	Helios	France	2719		58.31
5	SolarShop Kelly	Australia	2217
6	Towards Tomorrow	Australia	1156
7	CPDM	Malaysia	514

2011

In the 2011 World Solar Challenge Tokai University took their second title with an updated "Tokai Challenger" averaging 91.54 km/h (56.88 mph), and finishing just an hour before Nuna 6 of the Delft University of Technology.^[14] The race was marred by delays caused by wildfires.

Results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Tokai University	Japan	2998	32:45	91.54
2	Nuon	Netherlands	2998	33:50	88.60
3	University of Michigan	United States	2998	35:33	84.33
4	Ashiya University	Japan	2998	44:57	66.70
5	University of Twente	Netherlands	2998	44:04	66.53
6	University of New South Wales	Australia	2998	48:38	61.65
7	Aurora	Australia	2998	48:45	61.50
8	Istanbul University	Turkey	2765
9	Apollo	Taiwan	2650
10	Umicore	Belgium	2636
11	Stanford University	United States	2547
12	Nanyang Technological University	Singapore	2454
13	Team Okinawa	Japan	2408
14	Sakarya University	Turkey	2263
15	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	2222
16	Solar Energy Racers	Switzerland	2221
17	Qazvin Islamic Azad University	Iran	1891
18	University of Calgary	Canada	1840
19	Team Solar Philippines	Philippines	1815
20	UC Berkeley	United States	1811
21	Onda Solare	Italy	1751
22	Universidad de Chile	Chile	1709
23	Anadolu	Turkey	1675
24	University of Toronto	Canada	1661
25	University of Cambridge	UK	1487
26	Bochum	Germany	1454
27	ETS	Canada	1415
28	Principia College	United States	1303
29	Seraaj	Saudi Arabia	1269
30	University of Waterloo	Canada	1116
31	University of Tehran	Iran	1027
32	Solar Spirit Australia	Australia	801
33	Durham University	UK	552
34	Solaris	India	301
35	UMP	Malaysia	229
36	Uniten Solar Ranger Team	Malaysia	223
37	Green Maniac	South Korea	73

2013

The Sunswift team from the University of New South Wales who were awarded Line Honours in the 2013 Cruiser Class

The 2013 World Solar Challenge featured the introduction of the Cruiser Class, which comprised more 'practical' solar cars with 2–4 occupants. The inaugural winner was Solar Team Eindhoven's Stella from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands with an average speed of 74.52 km/h (46.30 mph), while the second place team was the SunCruiser from Hochschule Bochum in Germany, who inspired the creation of the Cruiser Class by racing more practical solar cars in previous WSC races. The Australian team, the University of New South Wales solar racing team Sunswift was the fastest competitor to complete the race, but was awarded third place overall after points were awarded for 'practicality' and for carrying passengers.^[15]

Cruiser Results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Person kilometers	External energy (kWh)	Practicality (%)	Final score (%)
1	TU Eindhoven	Netherlands	3022	40:14	9093	64.0	88.3	97.5
2	HS Bochum	Germany	3022	41:38	6484	63.5	87.0	93.9
3	Sunswift	Australia	3022	38:35	3022	64.0	70.7	92.3
4	University of Minnesota	United States	3022	51:41	5454	64.0	69.3	79.2
5	Goko HS	Japan	2288				70.7
6	Apollo	Taiwan	1558				50.3
7	TAFE SA Solar Spirit	Australia	1469				71.7
8	University of Calgary	Canada	719				78.0

The German SunCruiser vehicle that inspired the new for 2013 Cruiser Class

In the challenger class, the Dutch team from Delft University of Technology took back the title with Nuna 7 and an average speed of 90.71 km/h (56.36 mph), while defending champions Tokai University finished second after an exciting close race, which saw a 10–30 minute race distance, though they drained the battery in final stint due to bad weather and finished some 3 hours later; an opposite situation of the previous challenge in 2011.^[16]

Challenger results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	3022	33:03	90.71
2	Tokai University	Japan	3022	36:22	82.43
3	University of Twente	Netherlands	3022	37:38	79.67
4	Stanford University	United States	3022	39:31	75.86
5	Solar Energy Racers	Switzerland	3022	40:13	74.54
6	Punch Powertrain	Belgium	3022	40:28	74.08
7	Team Arrow	Australia	3022	43:38	68.71
8	University of Toronto	Canada	3022	45:38	65.71
9	University of Michigan	United States	3022	45:55	65.29
10	Onda Solare	Italy	3022	48:25	61.92
11	University of Western Sydney	Australia	2891
12	Kanazawa Institute of Technology	Japan	2564
13	EAFIT-EPM	Colombia	2505
14	Kogakuin University	Japan	2450
15	KUST	South Korea	2013
16	SunSPEC	Singapore	1676
17	Istanbul Technical University	Turkey	1613
18	ETS	Canada	1530
19	Sun Shuttle	China	1398
20	Jonkoping University	Sweden	1301
21	ITS	Indonesia	748
22	UMP	Malaysia	616

The Adventure Class was won by Aurora's Aurora Evolution.^[17]

Adventure results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Aurora	Australia	3022	38:39	77.57
2	Antakari	Chile	3022	49:31	60.54
3	Sikat Solar	Philippines	2487
4	IVE	Hong Kong	2105
5	KAIT	Japan	1533
6	Solaris	Turkey	1481
7	Mississippi Choctaw HS	United States	164

2015

The 2015 World Solar Challenge was held on October 18–25 with the same classes as the 2013 race.

World Solar Challenge 2015-Parade at Victoria Sqare in Adelaide, Australia

In the cruiser class, the winner was once again Solar Team Eindhoven's Stella Lux from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands with an average speed of 76.73 km/h (47.68 mph), while the second place team was Kogakuin University from Japan who was the first to cross the finish line, but did not receive as many points for passenger-kilometers and practicality. Bochum took 3rd place this year with the latest in their series of cruiser cars.^[18]

Cruiser Results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Person kilometers	External energy (kWh)	Practicality (%)	Final score (%)
1	TU Eindhoven	Netherlands	3022	39:23	6044	29.68	84.5	97.27
2	Kogakuin University	Japan	3022	37:52	3022	29.71	51.75	93.61
3	HS Bochum	Germany	3022	48:30	4528	29.68	80.5	82.91
4	Sunswift	Australia	3022	54:03	3022	29.68	54.0	72.91
5	University of Minnesota	United States	3022	58:27	4009	29.68	38.5	68.21
6	Ardingly College	UK			0	12.5	61.75	42.93
7	Lodz University of Technology	Poland			2113	29.83	63.5	24.19
8	Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education	Hong Kong			896	29.83	51.5	21.41
9	Singapore Polytechnic	Singapore			768	29.97	50	21.41
10	Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology	Indonesia			1036	29.43	42.5	21.00
11	University of Tehran	Iran			1161	29.97	35.75	20.05

In the challenger class, the team from Delft University of Technology retained the title with Nuna 8 and an average speed of 91.75 km/h (57.01 mph), while their Dutch counterparts, the University of Twente, who led most of the race, finished just 8 minutes behind them in second place, making 2015 the closest finish in WSC history. Tokai University passed the University of Michigan on the last day of the race to take home the bronze.^[19]

Challenger results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Speed (km/h)
1	Nuon	Netherlands	3022	37:56	91.75
2	University of Twente	Netherlands	3022	38:04	91.63
3	Tokai University	Japan	3022	38:50	89.41
4	University of Michigan	United States	3022	38:54	89.29
5	Punch Powertrain	Belgium	3022	39:19	88.10
6	Stanford University	United States	3022	41:24	83.14
7	GAMF Hungary	Hungary	3022	43:04	79.70
8	Team Arrow	Australia	3022	45:22	76.71
9	EAFIT-EPM	Colombia	3022	46:19	73:29
10	University of Western Sydney	Australia	3022	46:51	72.21
11	North-West University	South Africa	3022	47:22	71.70
12	University of Toronto	Canada	3022	47:40	70.91
13	University of KwaZulu-Natal	South Africa	3022	47:53	70.40
14	GOKO High School	Japan	3022	50:22	66.74
15	Jonkoping University	Sweden	3022	50:36	66.39
16	Nagoya Institute of Technology	Japan	3022	50:42	66.25
17	Principia College	United States	3022	54:51	60.62
18	Kanazawa Institute of Technology	Japan	3022	56:24	58.91
19	Anadolu University	Turkey	3022	57:48	58.00
20	Kookmin University	Korea	3022	60:00	54.78
21	University of Adelaide	Australia	2292
22	Cambridge University	UK	2047
23	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States	1835
24	Beijing Institute of Technology	China	1823
25	Dokuz Eylul University	Turkey	1575
26	MARA University of Technology	Malaysia	97
27	Durham University	UK	0

The Adventure Class was won by the Houston High School solar car team from Houston, Mississippi, United States.^[20]

Adventure results
Rank	Team	Country	Distance (km)
1	Houston HS	United States	2441
2	TAFE SA	Australia	1289
3	Liberty Christian School	United States	1288

2017

The 2017 World Solar Challenge will be held on October 8–15, featuring the same classes as 2015.

See also

• Solar car racing
• List of prototype solar-powered cars
• List of solar car teams
• Shell Eco-marathon
• The Quiet Achiever, the world's first solar-powered racecar

Other solar vehicle challenges

• American Solar Challenge, a biennial United States event held since 1990 that has previously included Canada
• Formula Sun Grand Prix, an annual U.S. event held on race tracks.
• The Solar Car Challenge, an annual event for High School students from the U.S. and (to a lesser extent) other parts of the world, first held in 1995
• South African Solar Challenge, a biennial South African event that was first held in 2008
• Victorian Model Solar Vehicle Challenge, an annual event in Australia for schoolchildren

Movie

• Race the Sun, a movie loosely based on a participating team

References

1. WSC website
2. 2015 team list
3. ifp lab site
4. Wakefield, E.H. History of the Electric Automobile: Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Washington: SAE International.
5. ifp lab site
6. ifp lab site
7. ifp lab site
8. ifp lab site
9. WSC history page
10. ZDP Site
11. WSC history page
12. WSC 2007 results
13. WSC 2009 results
14. WSC 2011 results
15. WSC 2013 Cruiser class results
16. WSC 2013 Challenger class results
17. WSC 2013 Adventure class results
18. WSC 2015 Cruiser class results
19. WSC 2015 Challenger class results
20. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/1491_v3_official_times_adventure_class_display.pdf

External links

• Official website
• Images from Alice Springs, Australia – 2007
• An overview of all the competing teams in the 2013 WSC.