On Wednesday, September 18th, the Belgian Innoptus Solar Team, a KU Leuven University student team, maintained its leadership position in the Sasol Solar Challenge in South Africa. On the sixth day of the Challenge, a mountain stage was planned.
The engineering students climbed some steep slopes with their solar cars. The cars can recover energy during descents by applying a ‘regenerative’ braking system. This means that the energy that would otherwise be lost is re-stored in the battery. The three top teams finally covered the same number of kilometers, so the Belgians retained the lead they had taken the day before.
Daily record
After some technical problems on Saturday, the Belgian team started in third place at the beginning of the Challenge, covering 672.9 kilometers. It was the first time in the competition’s history that a team had covered so many kilometers in one day.
On Sunday, the Belgian team strategically rode 7.5 loops, surprising the classification leaders who only rode 7. This gave them a lead of up to 15 km. On Monday (16/9), the Belgians had started in first position after returning to the top of the rankings in the Sasol Solar Challenge and setting a daily record on Sunday.
Evenly matched
On Monday, however, the competing team from Twente opted for another strategy and covered more kilometers, pushing the Belgian team back to second place. The two teams are clearly evenly matched.
On Tuesday, the Belgians broke their own daily record by covering over 700 km—100 km more than their competitors—during a challenging desert leg of the South African Challenge.
Strong crosswinds
They crossed the Kalahari desert, where strong crosswinds often occur, and used the solar car’s extendable and rotating fin to take advantage of these winds. The fin allows the solar car to sail, and this way, it uses less energy.
Never before had a team covered so many kilometers in one day. So, the Belgians ended first in the ranking, with a lead of 84 kilometers over the team from Twente and 115 kilometers over the team from Delft.
Playing leapfrog
The two strongest teams—Leuven and Twente—have been playing leapfrog with each other. None of the teams could build a convincing lead, and the leadership position was passed several times.
The competition will continue for two more days, but tomorrow’s route will not be announced until later this evening. This means the teams are extra challenged because energy consumption cannot be estimated in advance. Therefore, difficult, last-minute strategic decisions will have to be made.
Max kilometers in eight days
In October 2023, the Belgian Innoptus Solar Team, the student team of KU Leuven University, became the world champion in Australia with the earlier version of their car. To face the increased challenge of the Sasol Solar Challenge, the Louvain-based students adjusted their vehicle. They focused on some significant innovations, like the cooling system and the airflow behind the back of the car.
The Sasol Solar Challenge is a solar car race in which student teams from all over the world drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town. The teams are challenged to cover as much distance as possible using solar energy in eight days. Driving loops during the race can increase the number of kilometers driven, and the goal is to cover as many kilometers on solar energy as possible.
During the eight-day challenge (from September 13th to 20th), they travel more than 4,000 km through busy cities, exceptional weather conditions, and extreme altitude differences. This challenge is, therefore, also seen as the most extreme in the world. The competition ends on Friday at 3 p.m.
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