Team Sonnenwagen Prep for Race Across the Outback

Harwin's Interconnect Guru caught up with the team from RWTH Aachen University as they prepared to embark on a journey across the globe, travelling from North West Germany to Darwin Australia for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

What is their motivation and what lessons they've learnt from last year that will help them to gain a pole position?

Climate change and resource depletion are threatening our civilization and emphasize the importance of developing renewable energy alternatives. Our intention with Sonnenwagen is not only to bring these two issues to light, but also show the potential of efficient solar technology. If you speak to any team member, they'll say they want to be a part of a real-world application that promotes an environmentally-friendly renewable approach.

All of us are looking to make the most of our time in university and being involved in a project combating climate change and helping protect the planet is very rewarding."

The aerodynamics are vital. We spent 18 months performing computational fluid dynamics simulations and carried out multiple wind tunnel tests to determine the optimal design, while still considering chassis structure. Simulations were also done on various carbon fiber-reinforced composites and geometries. Data from all of these activities was then compiled to create a final digital prototype."