"Stella" - the world's first solar powered family car (TU/e)

[sid]

The tunnel is probably great for marriages and for keeping the kids from fighting.

[niky]

Originally Posted by markweatherill

Oh man! Surely that tunnel is a step too far.

As RedDevil says, it likely contributes a good amount to structural stiffness besides lowering CdA. For your typically fliimsy solar racer, that's a good thing!

[NeilBlanchard]

We'll have to see how they do in the cross Australia this year. Last year they won, and they averaged having 3 people in the car during the race - nobody else did that!

[SvdM]

It appears that this year's rules are a bit less focused on practicality and passenger kms and a little more towards speed again.

I think they would have probably done a tunnel like this even if it wasn't for the increased focus on speed, but the focus leaning towards more speed demanded it. I believe the array area is more or less the same as the previous car but the cabin width has been reduced slightly too, hence the over-hang at the top sides.

I've played around with layouts and there is almost no way around their design, unless you're willing to give up more m² for the solar array (non Gallium Arsenide). Hence, you're unlikely to see a sportier looking car with a near 6m² solar panel coverage for the silicon-base sells.