North gets first glimpse of solar powered transport

NZ’s only operating solar-powered vehicle passed through Rodney last month, on the final leg of its journey from Bluff to Cape Reinga.

It was the Solar Fern’s first visit to the north, and the support crew made an overnight stop at the Sheepworld Campground, in Warkworth.

Project manager Rob Glassey said the purpose of the trip was to raise the profile of solar car racing in NZ. His team hopes to build a new car for the next World Solar Challenge in Australia, in 2013. They would also like to set-up an international event in NZ, as well as a model solar car racing competition among schools.

“The challenges of designing and building a solar car are a great way to encourage young people to take up engineering and science,” he said.

Rob said Solar Fern had performed well on the tour, incurring only one flat tyre. Energy consumption was better than expected and there were few electrical system problems.

The team was stopped twice by Police – once for a breathalyser test and the second time on the Auckland Harbour Bridge where they think the officer was more curious than concerned about the vehicle’s road-worthiness.

The Solar Fern weighs 200kgs, and is five metres long and 1.8 metres wide. The roof is covered entirely with solar panels and it has battery capacity of four kilowatt hours. When fully charged, this enables the car to cover between 200 and 300kms, but on a sunny day, when the sun is continually recharging the batteries, the car can do up to 350kms. It averages a speed of 50km/h for best efficiency, which can cause some mild congestion on the road.

“We try to pull over as frequently as possible, but most drivers are really good about it and there are lots of toots and thumbs up.”

The three-wheeled car is technically classed as a moped and needs no special permission to run on the road. The two drivers alternated shifts, doing about two to three hours at a strech.

Driver Brent Thompson said the driver’s compartment was small but not uncomfortable.

“It’s a bit like lying back in a deck chair and is reasonably well ventilated,” he said. “The car doesn’t have any sound-deadening material so it is very noisy, but the helmet that we wear all the time has a built-in intercom and ear muffs which help.”

Rob said one of the key impediments to achieving a better performing car was money.

“We built everything on the car ourselves, even the parts. It took time but was a huge financial saving. Our car cost around $30,000, whereas if you aren’t doing it yourself, the starting figure is around $100,000 to $200,000.

“Leaders in the solar racing world include Japan, the Netherlands and Michigan State University who literally spend millions of dollars on their cars.”

But Rob is confident that NZ can move into the top five in the world.

“We’ve had some racing experience now – we’ll be trying to secure some serious sponsorship so we can improve the solar panels on the car.”

The entire trip from Bluff to Cape Reinga took 10 days and was sponsored by ESG Energy, Hubbards Cereals and Honda.

Pictured: Solar challenge project manager Rob Glassey (left) and driver Brent Thompson check out the Solar Fern at the Sheepworld Campground. Behind them is the roof of the car, catching the final rays of the sun.