Solar Rollers RC Car Program Launches Movie Before Race

Posted by: chris

July 26, 2013

The Solar Rollers program has launched an 8-minute movie featuring high school students and their solar-powered RC cars as they competed at a National Renewable Energy Laboratory event in May – the first U.S. race for this type of car. The movie depicts some of the challenges faced as these dedicated students designed, built and tested their lightweight, energy-efficient solar cars. 

Each team of students cut their own carbon-fiber chassis, soldered together a custom solar array, solved engineering and electrical issues and then drove their experimental vehicles at surprisingly high speeds in competition for the first time. The movie is very entertaining; sort of a cross between Star Wars, The Fast and the Furious, and Short Circuit.

The same four cars are now undergoing design revisions (and in some cases extensive repairs) for the second Solar Roller race to be held at the Aspen Science Center’s Street Fair on August 11. An entire city street in Aspen has been blocked off for the race as part of this large, high-energy kids’ science festival held at Paepcke Park. The cars will be racing between 12:00 and 1:30. Please come see the race if you can make it.

Solar Rollers is a new program for high schools from Solar In the Schools, the K-12 outreach program of Solar Energy International. For more info on the program please watch the movie and visit solar-rollers-rc-cars . SEI is seeking sponsors and funders to expand this program throughout Colorado and potentially nationwide.
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