UTCN builds a three-wheeled solar vehicle for Australia

Cluj24 reports that a team of UTCN students and professors is building a three-wheeled solar vehicle that will cover 3,200 km at a competition in Australia, powered only by the sun. The ultralight vehicle has an electric drive and a carbon-fibre body, weighs about 200 kg and carries photovoltaic panels over almost 5 square metres.

“Our goal is to finish the race, and we are trying to win a place as the best debut team”

Călin Neamțu, team coordinator

Associate Professor Ștefan Breban, team coordinator, says the World Solar Challenge starts on 22 October and lasts seven days, with six student drivers taking turns every two hours. The vehicle's top speed is around 80 to 90 km/h, but over the 3,200 km from Darwin to Adelaide it will average 65 km/h.

Professor Călin Neamțu, also a coordinator, calls it the world's most important solar vehicle race and says Romania's participation is a first. The team raced a 24-hour event in Europe the year before, he notes, but this is something else. The carbon-fibre parts were made at UTCN in an autoclave, as Professor Paul Bere explains.

Student Daiana designed the canopy, the ventilation, the headlight mounts and the livery, and says she stays until late in the evening to get the vehicle ready. She came to the faculty because she likes vehicles. Design began in October 2022, and several versions have been made since.