Sprint to the finish line

More than 100 high school students battled it out at the 2010 SunSprint Challenge to see which team had designed and built the fastest solar-powered model car.

Held at UNSW as part of Open Day, 16 teams from across the state vied for cash prizes and the chance to compete at the national finals in Perth later this year.

First place went to team Aether from Moorebank High School, second place to team Shift from St Pauls Catholic College and third place to Efthimiou from All Saints Grammar School.

Challenge co-ordinator, Dr Rob Largent from the UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, said the competition provides a brilliant way to teach school students about solar energy, gear ratios, friction, traction, and electronics.

"The keenly contested annual race brings a spirit of competition to make learning fun and many of the cars have been built by teams of students over the last six months," Dr Largent said.

With this year's race run almost entirely in the rain, Dr Largent said the winners were to be commended for their design and technical skills.

"Just about anyone can make a car that runs in 100 per cent sunshine but these students built cars that run in sunlight dimmer than on the planet Mars. We had the winning cars make the full 100-metre circuit in nine per cent of full sunlight. This is quite a feat," he said.

The model cars also had to carry "passengers" in the form of raw eggs safely through the race track.

The event was sponsored by Jaycar Electronics, UNSW's School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering and the UNSW Faculties of Science and Engineering.

A full list of category winners along with photos and a race video are available here.

Contact: Rob Largent | 02 9385 5457