SolarWorld No. 1 Racecar Starts the 2010 American Solar Challenge

Today, the 2010 American Solar Challenge kicks off in North America, marking the start of a 1,100-mile race between seventeen international teams from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Taiwan. Among them, the largest US solar solutions manufacturer, SolarWorld, and their vehicle, the SolarWorld No. 1.

The car will be fielded and driven by members of the Bochum University of Applied Sciences in Germany. The vehicle will compete in several events, including timed stages and total elapsed time. The SolarWorld No. 1 uses high-efficiency photovoltaic to draw its power from the sun’s rays.

“Our solar racer will model the clean power from the sun across an expanse of the U.S. landscape, where SolarWorld has pioneered solar technology since the mid-1970s,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld California, the company’s sales and marketing unit.

The 2010 American Solar Challenge was thought as a competition to design, build, and drive solar-powered cars in a cross-country time/distance rally event. The teams which sign up for the event compete in a 1100 mile drive from Broken Arrow, OK to Naperville, IL.

The route for this year has been chosen because it combines old routes used in previous events, “giving a bit of an historical tribute for the 20 years of organized events in North America.”

As for SolarWorld, it is a company which in fully integrated solar production. That includes solar-power solutions for homes, businesses and, as we see here, locomotion.