Science & Environment,Oct 4 2012 9:49AM
Thabo Rantlha
North West University (NWU) Potchefstroom Campus Engineering students
became the toast of the province and South Africa in making history when
their debut solar car won the Olympia Class with Japan’s Tokai
University the overall winner in the Sasol Solar Challenge.
The group of eight students were part of 12 teams competing against each
other including South Africa, Japan and India, in an event that sent
competitors on an 11-day, 5200km journey.
All the vehicles had to be solar powered and maintain an average 60km/h
speed. They left Pretoria, and made their way to Cape Town driving back
alongside the shore, then up to Pietermaritzburg to cross the finish
line in Pretoria.The Japanese top the world in solar rankings. The NWU broke two national and international records for the longest
distance travelled in one day using sun power and were awarded the gold
medal and the Africa Spirit award for their safety record.The NWU’s so-called batmo, was powered by the amount of energy found in a
radio controlled aeroplane engine, to reach an unbelievable speed of
110km/h.It only weighs 280kg and can give a few commercial vehicles a run for
their money on the pull-away, moving from 0 to 100km/h in only seven
seconds.The vehicle, according to the team leader and lecturer, Prof Albert
Helberg, was built mainly from carbon fibre and resin. It is much
lighter, but seven times stronger than steel.“It has a hefty price tag at R750000, but it was one of the cheapest
manufactured vehicles in the competition. The Japanese spent more than
$2m (R16.8) to manufacture their car. We are grateful to the Technology
Innovation Agency who sponsored us with R330000.” “We implemented world class sailplane technology for the aerodynamics of the vehicle and knew that we had a winning recipe.“We had to develop a first-of-its-kind engine and gearbox. It prepares
the market for a higher level of technology. I believe we will see the
first commercial solar powered vehicles on our roads as early as 2017,”
said Helberg.He said they started constructing the vehicle in June with a large flat
surface housing the sun panels slightly thicker than a piece of paper,
which store about 1.2kW of energy in a battery and drive the two hub
engines.“The NWU’s project forms part of a first-year students’ project that
will from next year be rolled out to a postgraduate project, with more
innovative research.“The batmobile will now be used as a pilot project to inspire the development of a better car.“This will be used to compete in the World Solar Competition that takes
place in Australia next year,” said NWU university communications
officer, Johan van Zyl.thabor@thenewage.co.za
reproduced without changes
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