Schools Set to Race in Sun-Powered Cars

It will be an automobile race like no other in American history: 32 cars powered solely by the sun in a grueling 1,600-mile road rally.

Thirty-two universities from the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico have built ultra-high-tech solar cars for Sunrayce USA, an 11-day endurance run from Florida to Michigan that begins July 9.

The Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Fla., has spent $230,000 designing and building its entry.

“It’d make a nice Ferrari, wouldn’t it?” asked FIT team leader Doug Hahn.

“If you took an airplane wing off a 747 then rounded the tip of it and put four wheels on it, that’s what it looks like,” said Hahn.

The cars vary widely in design, but most are sleek, low and needle-like. Western Washington University’s goes forward during the morning, when the sun is in the east, but backward in the afternoon, when it is in the west. Each entry is covered with solar cells, the only power source allowed on board.

“We have 14,057 solar cells on the car, and at peak power, we hope to produce about 1,300 watts . . . about enough to power a hair drier,” said Michael Blackman, a member of the University of Michigan team that has spent about $800,000 on its car, the Sunrunner.

The cars are made out of ultra-lightweight materials. The frame of the FIT car, the Sunshine Special, is made out of metal chromoly tubing that is .028-inch thick, Hahn said.

“The cover of a matchbook is .032-inch thick,” he said.