British solar-powered racer unveiled

Cambridge University Eco Racing, Britain's sole entrant straight into the World Solar Challenge, has officially unveiled its radical challenger for that year's competition. Participants in the CUER team launched the car in the Science Museum in London yesterday in preparation for October's 3000-kilometre (1860-mile ) sun-fuelled race over the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide. The planning from the team's electric vehicle – named Resolution following the HMS Resolution, during which Captain Cook made his second voyage of exploration towards the South Pacific – marks a significant departure from previous WSC vehicles produced by a student team. A rule change for that year's race stipulates that competing machines should have four wheels, whereas three-wheelers were more popular and successful during the past. Other changes relate to driver positioning and visibility from the vehicle. Faced with one of these new challenges CUER devised the teardrop-shaped vehicle in preference towards the flat, rectangular designs which have been more common during the past. Those shapes are made to optimise the solar panels' capcapacity to take in sunlight, but Resolution puts the emphasis on aerodynamics. Its rear-mounted solar array, and that is mounted under a transparent canopy, pivots to track the movement of sunlight with the sky. This means the panels remain in the optimum angle to sunlight, allowing them to be able to gather 20 per cent more power. Resolution's tiny dimensions will also be influenced by CUER's decision to make use of high-efficiency solar cells. The regulations place a restriction upon the scale the solar array counting on the kind of cells used. CUER is using spacecraft-specification gallium arsenide cells and it is thus limited to three square meters of panels. Gallium arsenide cells are both lighter and much more efficient than silicon-based variants. Propulsion comes given by a rear-wheel-mounted motor. The rules permit many of the excess energy produced from the solar cells to become kept in 5kWh lithium-ion battery cells, to power the vehicle when sunlight is not out or when an incline or headwind is encountered. The 4. 5m-long car produces about 1. 5kW of power – in regards to the identical to a hair dryer – but is proficient at a high speed around 85mph, although throughout the race It‘s very likely to cruise at between 50-60mph. It weighs 120kg and uses low rolling resistance tyres which are designed specifically for solar powered cars. CUER has got the support of several key automotive and engineering companies, including Jaguar Land Rover, Cambridge Precision, Lenovo and SKF.  It is testing the vehicle at Millbrook proving ground and also has also had admittance to JLR's environment testing chamber, that has enabled the team to replicate the kind of conditions that it could face in Australia. Resolution may have advanced on-board telemetry, which should consider traffic, weather and driving style, to assist advise the team approach reach their optimum efficiency throughout the race. Four drivers will require turns behind the wheel of Resolution. Every day includes a 'racing curfew' of 5pm, therefore the emphasis is requried to be made by completing as much miles as you can every day. Following the curfew, teams can always use solar energy to replenish their cars' batteries. CUER's entire team numbers 60, and all the work upon the project is performed inside the students' free time. About 20 participants in the squad will travel to Australia to the race, which begins on 6 October. British solar-powered racer unveiled