Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - View Single Post - Q:What is this car? A: SolarWorld GT (Cd 0.14 solar car going around the world)

aerohead · 02-25-2012, 03:33 PM

I made it down Thursday to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth,Texas,who's Applied Sciences Dept.( thanks Stephanie!), hosted the SOLARWORLD Gran Turismo solar car and team from Bochum University's Dept. of Applied Sciences,Germany.
I did get some photos although I don't know if they'll contain any info which adds to what is on the internet.
SOLARWORLD's Devon and Kelsey were on hand to share info on photovoltaics,of which they provided space-grade 29% gallium-arsenide cells for the GT.
SOLARWORLD presently owns and operates the factory which manufactured the ARCO Solar panels I purchased for my home in the early 1980s.
__________________________________________________ ______________
The car is both stunning and unremarkable at the same time.Which was their mission.It's a 4-wheel,2-door coupe with front wheel drive,full independent "FORMULA" suspension.
You operate a door handle,open the door,get in,belt yourself in,and away you go.
Its light,small,very stable,easy to park.
It took 35 man-years to get it constructed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fit and finish of the exterior is as good as it gets.The inside is pure race car.It's all carbon-fiber epoxy.Body gaps are less than 1/8-inch (3mm).
The bucket seats are very comfortable allowing many pain-free hours behind the wheel.
While sitting well back from the windshield,outward vision is very good except that you'd have trouble seeing some intersection traffic lights without ducking way down.The compound windshield is optically perfect.Ditto for side glazings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quite a bit of belly is cut away to accommodate wheel flop of the special Schwalbe 5-atmosphere front steering wheels.Small aluminum angle extrusion is used for spoilers as we see in today's production cars front ends.
From the position of the seatbacks,the belly forms a continuous up-sweeping diffuser to the back.
The rear transom bulkhead has room for license plate,lights,and 'backup' camera ( there is no rearview or sideview mirrors ).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I never got to see the car opened up,so I cannot explain the thickness of the body area which would otherwise be trailing fairings for the rear wheels.They could be intentionally thick to compensate for the falling roof line,providing sectional density,to mitigate sudden pressure spikes.
My Deutsche is pretty much zero.The teams English was embarrassingly good,although there was some difficulty in communication,especially aerodynamics.Eyes rolled back when I asked about longitudinal vortices.I just let it lay.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The team is averaging around 50 km/h (31 mph ) and 150 km a day.At this velocity,the PV array is producing the power the car is consuming,850 Watts ( 1.14 hp ).You can imagine the fuel economy!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Texas,the team will go on to Florida,finish in S.Carolina ( I hope basjoos can make it there with AERO CIVIC ),then ship off to Spain,across Europe,Russia,China,Asia,and back to Australia to complete a Guinness World Record as the 1st around the World in a solar car.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Al's kinds busy today so I don't know about photos.Will do asap.

02-25-2012, 03:33 PM	#20 (permalink)
aerohead Master EcoModder Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sanger,Texas,U.S.A. Posts: 15,895 Thanks: 23,972 Thanked 7,223 Times in 4,650 Posts	Visit with SOLARWORLD GT in Ft.Worth I made it down Thursday to Texas Christian University in Fort Worth,Texas,who's Applied Sciences Dept.( thanks Stephanie!), hosted the SOLARWORLD Gran Turismo solar car and team from Bochum University's Dept. of Applied Sciences,Germany. I did get some photos although I don't know if they'll contain any info which adds to what is on the internet. SOLARWORLD's Devon and Kelsey were on hand to share info on photovoltaics,of which they provided space-grade 29% gallium-arsenide cells for the GT. SOLARWORLD presently owns and operates the factory which manufactured the ARCO Solar panels I purchased for my home in the early 1980s. __________________________________________________ ______________ The car is both stunning and unremarkable at the same time.Which was their mission.It's a 4-wheel,2-door coupe with front wheel drive,full independent "FORMULA" suspension. You operate a door handle,open the door,get in,belt yourself in,and away you go. Its light,small,very stable,easy to park. It took 35 man-years to get it constructed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The fit and finish of the exterior is as good as it gets.The inside is pure race car.It's all carbon-fiber epoxy.Body gaps are less than 1/8-inch (3mm). The bucket seats are very comfortable allowing many pain-free hours behind the wheel. While sitting well back from the windshield,outward vision is very good except that you'd have trouble seeing some intersection traffic lights without ducking way down.The compound windshield is optically perfect.Ditto for side glazings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quite a bit of belly is cut away to accommodate wheel flop of the special Schwalbe 5-atmosphere front steering wheels.Small aluminum angle extrusion is used for spoilers as we see in today's production cars front ends. From the position of the seatbacks,the belly forms a continuous up-sweeping diffuser to the back. The rear transom bulkhead has room for license plate,lights,and 'backup' camera ( there is no rearview or sideview mirrors ). ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I never got to see the car opened up,so I cannot explain the thickness of the body area which would otherwise be trailing fairings for the rear wheels.They could be intentionally thick to compensate for the falling roof line,providing sectional density,to mitigate sudden pressure spikes. My Deutsche is pretty much zero.The teams English was embarrassingly good,although there was some difficulty in communication,especially aerodynamics.Eyes rolled back when I asked about longitudinal vortices.I just let it lay. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The team is averaging around 50 km/h (31 mph ) and 150 km a day.At this velocity,the PV array is producing the power the car is consuming,850 Watts ( 1.14 hp ).You can imagine the fuel economy! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Texas,the team will go on to Florida,finish in S.Carolina ( I hope basjoos can make it there with AERO CIVIC ),then ship off to Spain,across Europe,Russia,China,Asia,and back to Australia to complete a Guinness World Record as the 1st around the World in a solar car. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Al's kinds busy today so I don't know about photos.Will do asap.