Q:What is this car? A: SolarWorld GT (Cd 0.14 solar car going around the world)

[NeilBlanchard]

GPXViewer Bernhard Gaul

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[aerohead]

here are photos,finally!
Sorry for the duplications,perhaps over time I'll learn how to finess the keystrokes.

[NeilBlanchard]

Phil, thank you very much. I like the "underbelly" shots and the other details that only us aero-geeks want to see! I'm sure one of the mods can remove the duplicates.

[aerohead]

I was at 'windkanal' at GOOGLE IMAGES and found a site for the Bochum car.I don't have my link instructions with me from Sven7,but the link is associated with:
Solar World GT im Audi Aeroakustic Windkanal
The flow images look really good.
This car,with its mirror image forms an approximate 2.5:1 teardrop in elevation view.The maximum rear slope angle is around 16-degrees.

[sgtlethargic]

Here are the action shots of the wind tunnel pics.

Link: SolarWorld GT im Windkanal - SolarCar - Hochschule Bochum

[sgtlethargic]

I prefer the 2009 BOCruiser.

BOcruiser Knows Solar Power, Set For 1,800 Mile Road Race

[sgtlethargic]

And the 2013 PowerCore SunCruiser.

[Astro]

Originally Posted by aerohead

...
They recharge the battery overnight.
The 100-lb Lithium battery has a 7-hour driving capacity @ 31 mph.
Top speed with battery assist is 61 mph,just short of 100 km/h.
The team is not concerned with speed.They're content with 150 km/day.They'll take a year to do the round the world Guinness record.
...

I read a lot of that thread before i noticed how old it was.

Question though.
If they recharge it overnight.
Get 7 hours of driving from the battery pack at 31mph (7x31=217 miles or 349 kilometres).
And are happy with 150km/day.
How is it a solar car?
If the pack is charged overnight then they are starting the day with more than twice the power required to complete the whole days driving no sunlight required.

I was expecting the battery pack to be small, used just to get moving or assist with steep inclines, that sort of thing.

[NeilBlanchard]

It also gets power from the solar panels, and that is how they raced it in Australia. But when they drove it around the world (!!) they also charged the battery overnight, so as to travel farther each day.

[Astro]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

It also gets power from the solar panels, and that is how they raced it in Australia. But when they drove it around the world (!!) they also charged the battery overnight, so as to travel farther each day.

So when they compete they use the solar panels so as to compete as a solar vehicle.
But the round the world record is for an electric vehicle not specifically a solar only vehicle.

That makes more sense.

The car is pretty much covered in solar panels. I wonder if a trailer could be attached to provide more solar panel area. Allowing the car to run entirely on solar.
As the trailer wouldn't need to allow for passengers and battery weight etc it could be very light weight and extremely low wind resistance.
They managed to put 800 watts or so of panels on the car. A trailer should be able to fit 2kW of panels at least.
A trailer would probably be outside the rules for solar car competitions but could be used for the round the world trip. It would be quite cheap to build too. No motors, no batteries, no passengers just a flat panel with wheels. If it could be attached close enough behind the car it may also be able to be shaped to assist with the overall aerodynamic shape.