The North American Solar Challenge (NASC) is a solar car race across the United States and Canada. In the race, teams from colleges and universities throughout North America design, build, test, and race solar-powered vehicles in a long distance road rally-style event. NASC is a test of teamwork, engineering skill, and endurance that stretches across thousands of miles of public roads.
The 2008 NASC took place on July 13-22, 2008, on a route between Dallas, Texas and Calgary, Alberta.
Format and Organization
Solar race cars and crews at the start of the 2005 race in Austin, Texas. Photo: Stefano Paltera/North American Solar Challenge.
Rules
Race consists of a series of timed stages between predetermined locations; all teams begin and end each stage in the same location
The team with the lowest overall elapsed time wins
The total area of all solar cells and related reflectors, etc. must not exceed 6 square meters
When the vehicle has stopped, the solar array may be reoriented toward the sun for charging batteries
Strict specifications and engineering scrutiny process is provided for vehicle configuration, safety requirements, and other standards
Teams in the race are divided into two categories; open and stock
Open class — Solar cells over $10 USD per watt (higher efficiency)
Stock class — From a pre-approved list of cells that are under $10 per watt
(Previous races also specified different battery technologies for the classes)
Race route
The 1990 and 1993 races had a south-north orientation, intended to roughly match the Darwin-to-Adelaide, Australia, route of the World Solar Challenge. In 1995, race organizers opted for a mostly east-west route from Indianapolis to Colorado. In 2005, the ASC adopted its current route that follows a south-to-north orientation across the United States, then turns to the west upon reaching Canada.
Originally called Sunrayce USA, the first race was organized and sponsored by General Motors in 1990 in an effort to promote automotive engineering and solar energy among college students. At the time, GM had just won the inaugural World Solar Challenge in Australia in 1987; rather than continue actively racing, it instead opted to sponsor collegiate events.
After the 2005 race, the U.S. Department of Energy discontinued its sponsorship, resulting in no scheduled race for 2007. The race is now sponsored by Toyota.
University of Michigan's Sunrunner, winner of the inaugural Sunrayce USA in 1990.
Sunrayce 95 ran along a 1,600-mile (2,600 km) route from Indianapolis, Indiana to Golden, Colorado. Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the race with an average speed of 37.23 mph (59.92 km/h), followed by the University of Minnesota just 18 minutes behind.
Minnesota's Borealis III crosses the border to Canada on July 21, 2005.
1999
Sunrayce 99, running from Washington, DC, to Orlando, FL, was notable for its lack of sunshine. The University of Missouri-Rolla's Solar Miner II won the race with an average speed of 25.3 mph (40.7 km/h). The car from Queen's University placed second.
The 2005 race, renamed the North American Solar Challenge, was the longest and most hotly contested race so far. The route covered 2,494.9 mi (4,015.2 km), taking the teams from Austin, Texas in the United States to Calgary, Alberta in Canada. The race was won by the Momentum from the University of Michigan, that school's fourth victory, with an average speed of 46.2 mph (74.4 km/h). The University of Minnesota's Borealis III followed in second place. The lead teams often drove 65 mph (105 km/h) (the maximum allowed), but were slowed by rain in Kansas and 20 mph (32 km/h) headwinds in Canada. Stanford University's Solstice won the Stock Class in 2005.
2008
The 2008 North American Solar Challenge took place on July 13-22, 2008, along a route from Dallas, Texas to Calgary, Alberta.[2] The University of Michigan's Continuum won the race with a total elapsed time of 51 hours, 41 minutes, and 53 seconds, followed by the Ra 7 from Principia College in second place.
As many of the top cars were bumping up against the 65 mph (105 km/h) race speed limit in the 2005 event, race rules were changed in order to improve safety and limit performance. Open class cars are now only allowed 6 square meters of active cell area, and upright seating is required for both open and stock class cars. The same changes were made for the 2007 World Solar Challenge.
