A Bit of Challenge History…
The effects of excessive fossil fuel consumption on global warming had started becoming more apparent in the 1980’s. Research and implementation of clean energy alternatives was on the rise and there continued to be improvements in solar technology and cell efficiencies. This ultimately led the emergence of the first World Solar Challenge race from Darwin to Adelaide in 1987 where teams from counties all around the globe needed to harness nothing but the sun’s rays to power their way across the Australian outback.
It was at this time when members of a Victorian-based team made up of university staff and students began contemplating whether a simpler, lower cost version of the event could be offered as a STEM competition in schools. The model solar challenge was thus formed, with many of the same scientific concepts and engineering problems faced by those at the World Solar Challenge being filtered down to the model scale. Technical areas including car aerodynamics, controller electronics, weight and rolling resistance as well as many more remain equally as important across both events.
The first ever model solar car event was held in 1990 in Melbourne. Cars initially raced on a 100m long S-shaped track but this was later updated to a continuous figure 8 with the potential to allow for longer, multiple lap races. The event soon expanded to other Australian states with top entries from around the country then meeting at the first national finals in 1993.
The University of Tasmania teamed up with the CSIRO to run the first Tasmanian event in 1994…to be continued.