World Solar Challenge Explained

Race Title:	Bridgestone World Solar Challenge
Series Long:	World Solar Challenge
Series Short:	WSC
Venue:	Stuart Highway
Location:	Australia
Sponsor:	Bridgestone
First Race:	1987
Distance:	3022km (1,878miles)
Duration:	4-7 days
Most Wins Team:	Nuon (Challenger) Eindhoven (Cruiser)
Length Mi:	-->

The World Solar Challenge (WSC), since 2013 named Bridgestone World Solar Challenge,^[1] is an international event for solar powered cars driving 3000 kilometres through the Australian outback.

With the exception of a four-year gap between the 2019 and 2023 events, owing to the cancellation of the 2021 event, the World Solar Challenge is typically held every two years. The course is over 3022km (1,878miles) through the Australian Outback, from Darwin, Northern Territory, to Adelaide, South Australia. The event was created to foster the development of solar-powered vehicles.^[2]

The WSC attracts teams from around the world, most of which are fielded by universities or corporations, although some are fielded by high schools. It has a 32-year history spanning fifteen events, with the inaugural event taking place in 1987. Initially held once every three years, the event became biennial from the turn of the century.

Since 2001 the WSC was won seven times out of ten efforts by the Nuna team and cars of the Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands. The Tokai Challenger, built by the Tokai University of Japan, was able to win 2009 and 2011. In the most recent editions (2019 & 2023), the Belgian Innoptus Solar Team formerly known as the Agoria Solar Team from KU Leuven University won.

Starting in 2007, the WSC has multiple classes. After the German team of Bochum University of Applied Sciences competed with a four-wheeled, multi-seat car, the BoCruiser (in 2009), in 2013 a radically new "Cruiser Class" was introduced, stimulating the technological development of practically usable, and ideally road-legal, multi-seater solar vehicles. Since its inception, Solar Team Eindhoven's four- and five-seat Stella solar cars from Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands) won the Cruiser Class in all four events so far.

Remarkable technological progress has been achieved since the General Motors led, highly experimental, single-seat Sunraycer prototype first won the WSC with an average speed of 66.91NaN1. Once competing cars became steadily more capable to match or exceed legal maximum speeds on the Australian highway, the challenge rules were consistently made more demanding and challenging — for instance after Honda's Dream car first won with an average speed exceeding 551NaN1 in 1996. In 2005 the Dutch Nuna team were the first to beat an average speed of 1000NaN0.

The 2017 Cruiser class winner, the five-seat Stella Vie vehicle, was able to carry an average of 3.4 occupants at an average speed of 690NaN0. Like its two predecessors, the vehicle was successfully road registered by the Dutch team, further emphasizing the great progress in real-world compliance and practicality that has been achieved.^{[3] [4]}

The WSC held its 30th anniversary event on 8–15 October 2017.

Objective

The objective of the challenge is to promote the innovation of solar-powered cars. It is a design competition at its core, and every team/car that successfully crosses the finish line is considered successful. Teams from universities and enterprises participate. In 2015, 43 teams from 23 countries competed in the challenge.^[5]

Challenge strategy

Efficient balancing of power resources and power consumption is the key to success during the challenge. At any moment in time, the optimal driving speed depends on the weather forecast and the remaining capacity of the batteries. The team members in the escort cars will continuously remotely retrieve data from the solar car about its condition and use these data as input for prior developed computer programs to work out the best driving strategy.

It is equally important to charge the batteries as much as possible in periods of daylight when the car is not driving. To capture as much solar energy as possible, the solar panels are generally directed such that these are perpendicular to the incident sun rays. Sometimes the whole solar array is tilted for this purpose.

Important rules

• The timed portion of the challenge stops at the outskirts of Adelaide, 2998 km from Darwin. However, for the timings recorded at that point to count, competitors must reach the official finish line in the centre of the city under solar power alone.
• As the challenge utilises public roads, the cars have to adhere to the normal traffic regulations.
• A minimum of 2 and maximum 4 drivers have to be registered. If the weight of a driver (including clothes) is less than 80kg (180lb), ballast will be added to make up the difference.
• Driving time is between 8:00 and 17:00 (from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). In order to select a suitable place for the overnight stop (alongside the highway) it is possible to extend the driving period for a maximum of 10 minutes, which extra driving time will be compensated by a starting time delay the next day.
• At various points along the route there are checkpoints where every car has to pause for 30 minutes. Only limited maintenance tasks (no repairs) are allowed during these compulsory stops.
• The capacity of the batteries is limited to a mass for each chemistry (such as Lithium Ion) equivalent to approximately 5 kWh maximum. At the start of the route, the batteries may be fully charged. Batteries may not be replaced during the competition, except in the situation of a breakdown. However, in that case, a penalty time will apply.
• Except for the maximum outer dimensions, there are no further restrictions on the design and construction of the car.
• The deceleration of the dual braking system must be at least 3.8 m/s² (149.6 in/s²).

Rule evolution

• By 2005, several teams were handicapped by the South Australian speed limit of 110km/h, as well as the difficulties of support crews keeping up with 1300NaN0 solar vehicles. It was generally agreed that the challenge of building a solar vehicle capable of crossing Australia at vehicular speeds had been met and exceeded. A new challenge was set: to build a new generation of solar car, which, with little modification, could be the basis for a practical proposition for sustainable transport.
• Entrants to the 2007 event chose between racing in the Adventure and Challenge classes. Challenge class cars were restricted to 6 square meters of Si solar collectors (a 25% reduction), and later to 3 square meters for GaAs, driver access and egress were required to be unaided, seating position upright, steering controlled with a steering wheel, and many new safety requirements were added. Competitors also had to adhere to the new 130km/h speed limit across the Northern Territory portion of the Stuart Highway. The 2007 event again featured a range of supplementary classes, including the Greenfleet class, which features a range of non-solar energy-efficient vehicles exhibiting their fuel efficiency.
• For the 2009 challenge class several new rules were adopted, including the use of profiled tyres. Battery weight limits depend on secondary cell chemistries so that competitors have similar energy storage capabilities. Battery mass is now 20 kg for Li-ion and Li-polymer battery (was reduced from 25 and 21 kg in the past).
• In 2013, a new Cruiser Class was introduced. The route took place in four stages. Final placings were based on a combination of time taken (56.6%), number of passengers carried (5.7%), battery energy from the grid between stages (18.9%), and a subjective assessment of practicality (18.9%)
• In the 2015 Cruiser Class regulations, the scoring formula emphasized practicality less than before. Elapsed time will account for 70% of the score, passengers 5%, grid energy use 15%, and practicality 10%.
• In 2017, solar array areas were reduced, and the Cruiser Class was changed to a Regularity Trial, with scoring based on energy efficiency and practicality.

History

The idea for the competition originates from Danish-born adventurer Hans Tholstrup.^{[6] [7]} He was the first to circumnavigate the Australian continent in a 16feet open boat. At a later stage in his life he became involved in various competitions with fuel-saving cars and trucks. Already in the 1980s, he became aware of the necessity to explore sustainable energy as a replacement for the limited available fossil fuel. Sponsored by BP, he designed the world's first solar car, called The Quiet Achiever, and traversed the 4052km (2,518miles) between Sydney, New South Wales and Perth, Western Australia in 20 days. That was the precursor of the WSC.

After the 4th event, he sold the rights to the state of South Australia and leadership of the event was assumed by Chris Selwood.

The event was held every three years until 1999 when it was switched to every two years.

1987

The first edition of the World Solar Challenge was run in 1987 when the winning entry, GM's Sunraycer won with an average speed of 67km/h.^[8] Ford Australia's "Sunchaser" came in second. The "Solar Resource", which came in 7th overall, was first in the Private Entry category.^[9]

Results
Position	Car No.	Team	Country	Car Name	Race Timer (HRS:MIN)	Avg. Speed (km/h)	Avg. Speed (mi/h)
1	88	General Motors	United States	Sunraycer	44:90	66.90	41.57
2	7	Australian Ford (Aurora)	Australia	Sunchaser	67:53	44.48	27.64
3	17	Ingenieurschule, Biel	Switzerland	Spirit of Biel	69:97	42.94	26.68
4	1	Australian Geographic	Australia	Marsupial	81:43	36.89	22.92
5	15	Charles Darwin University	Australia	Desert Rose	95:45	31.47	19.55
6	12	Chisholm Institute of Technology	Australia	Desert Cat	98:20	30.59	19.01
7	11	Solar Resource Syndicate	Australia
8	19	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
9	14	Alarus	Australia	Alarus
10	3	Chariot of the Sun	Denmark	Chariot of the Sun
11	5	Hoxan Corporation	Japan	Pheobus II
12	8	Morphett Vale High School	Australia	Photon Flyer
13	4	Semiconductor Energy Lab	Japan	Southern Cross

1990

The 1990 WSC was won by the "Spirit of Biel", built by Biel School of Engineering and Architecture in Switzerland followed by Honda in second place.^[10] Video coverage here.

Results
Position	Team	Country	Race Timer (HRS)	Avg. speed (km/h)	Avg. speed (mi/h)
1	Ingenieurschule, Biel	Switzerland	46.13	65	41
2	Honda R&D	Japan	55.00	55	34
3	University of Michigan	United States	57.25	53	33
4	Hoxan	Japan	57.35	53	33
5	Western Washington University	United States	58.20	54	32
6	Australian Energy Research Laboratory	Australia	59.90	50	31
7	University of Maryland	United States	60.71	50	31
8	Crowder College	United States	62.96	48	30
9	Barossa	Australia	63.29	48	30
10	Cal State LA	United States	67.76	44	28
11	Cal Poly Pomona	United States	68.03	44	28
12	Northern Territory University	Australia	69.61	43	27
13	Monash University / Melbourne University	Australia	69.81	43	27
14	Kyocera	Japan	71.38	42	26
15	Star Micronics Pty Ltd.	Australia	80.06	38	23
16	Simon Co Ltd	Japan	90.94	33	21
17	Dimitri Lajovic	Australia	94.71	32	20
18	Konawaena High School	United States	96.21	31	20
19	Dripstone High School	Australia	96.57	31	19
20	Annesley College	Australia	96.83	31	19
21	Hirotaka Oyabu	Japan	96.83	30	19
22	Waseda University	Japan	96.83	30	19
23	Stewart Lister	New Zealand	96.83	29	18
24	Queens University	Canada	96.83	26	16
25	Aisin Seiki Co/AISOL	Japan	96.83	25	16
26	Yamawaki	Japan	96.83	22	14
27	Solar Research Association		96.83	21	13
28	Semiconductor Energy Lab	Japan	96.83	21	13
29	Helio Det	Germany	96.83	20	13
30	Michiro Eguchi	Japan	96.83	19	12
31	Sonderborg Teknikum	Denmark
32	Morphett Value High School	Australia	retired	16	10
33	Phil Farrand	UK	retired	12	8
34	Nobuaki Hosokawa	Japan	retired	3	2
35	Mark Jensen		retired	13	8

1993

The 1993 WSC was won by the Honda Dream, and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture took second.^[11] Video coverage here.

Results
Position	Team	Country	Race Timer (HRS:MIN)	Avg. speed (km/h)	Avg. speed (mi/h)
1	Honda R&D	Japan	35:28	84.96	52.79
2	Eng. Col. Biel	Switzerland	38:30	78.27	48.64
3	Kyocera	Japan	42:35	70.76	43.97
4	Waseda University	Japan	42:50	70.35	43.71
5	Aurora	Australia	43:00	70.08	43.55
6	Toyota	Japan	46:34	64.71	40.21
7	Northern Territory University	Australia	46:50	64.34	39,98
8	Cal Poly Pomona	United States	47:21	63.64	39.54
9	George Washington University	United States	47:46	63.08	39.20
10	Zero 2 Darwin	Australia	48:38	61.96	38.50
11	University of Michigan	United States	49.07	61.35	38.12
12	Nissan Motor Company	Japan	50:21	59.85	37.19
13	Cal State LA	United States	50:37	59.53	36.99
14	Stanford University	United States	51:38	58.36	36.26
15	Philips Solar Kiwi	New Zealand	60:36	49.72	30.90
16	Mabuchi Motor	Japan	60:57	49.44	30.72
17	Sofix	Japan	64:56	46.41	28.84
18	Tokai University	Japan	74:22	40.52	25.18
19	Monash University / Melbourne University	Australia	74:50	40.27	25.02
20	Laughing Sun	Japan	75:48	39.75	24.70
21	Mino Family	Japan	76:21	39.47	24.53
22	University of Oklahoma	United States	79:37	37.85	23.52
23	Sonderborg Tekikum	Denmark	79:43	37.80	23.49
24	Ashiya University	Japan	79:48	37.76	23.46
25	Dripstone High School	Australia	81:17	37.76	23.03
26	Panda-san	Japan	84:15	35.77	22.23
27	Solar Flair	UK	84:57	35.47	22.04
28	KIA Motors	South Korea	85:27	35.26	21.91
29	Team Alarus	Australia	86:42	34.76	21.50
30	Annesley College	Australia	87:35	34.48	21.38
31	Hokuriku Electric	Japan	89:47	33.56	20.85
32	Hokkaido Auto	Japan	87:30	32.08	19.93
33	Team Doraemon	Japan	79:50	34.77	21.61
34	Solar Japan	Japan	80:10	31.73	19.72
35	Mitcham Girls High School	Australia	80:10	27.39	17.02
36	Morphett Vale High School	Australia	67:13	31.33	19.47
37	University of Puerto Rico	United States	62:36	30.08	18.69
38	Team New England	United States	53:02	28.13	17.48
39	Le Soleil	Japan	56:34	26.38	16.39
40	University of Western Ontario	Canada	63:51	23.37	14.52
41	Team TR50	UK	71:20	20.92	13.00
42	San Diego State University, Suntrakker	United States	52:10	20.55	12.77
43	Northern Territory Institute of T.A.F.E.	Australia	37.34	26.22	16.29
44	Meadowbank T.A.F.E.	Australia	26:17	24.05	14.94
45	Villanova University	United States	20:50	15.07	9.36
46	JCJS Solar Car	Japan	21:55	14.33	8.90
47	Banana Enterprise	Brazil	16:40	15.12	9.40
48	Hama Yumeka	Japan	15:25	15.03	9.34
49	Team Heliox	Switzerland	08:23	24.69	15.34
50	Team Moscow	Russia	03:35	9.77	6.07
Pink background indicated teams that retired before completing the Darwin to Adelaide route

1996

In the 1996 WSC, the Honda Dream and Biel School of Engineering and Architecture once again placed first and second overall, respectively.^[12]

Results
Place	Car no.	Team name	Country	Time and day of finish	Time (hr:mm)	Average speed (km/h)	Total distance
1	1	Honda R&D	Japan	Finished @ 17:26 / 30th	33:32	89.76	3010
2	2	United High Schools of Biel	Switzerland	Finished @ 10:10 / 31st	35:00	86.00	3010
3	3	Aisin Seiki Co Ltd	Japan	Finished @ 12:26 / 31st	37:18	80.70	3010
4	33	Mitsubishi	Japan	Finished @ 11:17 / 1st	45:07	66.72	3010
5	52	University of Queensland	Australia	Finished @ 12:34 / 1st	46:24	64.87	3010
6	23	Waseda University	Japan	Finished @ 12:48 / 1st	46:38	64.55	3010
7	15	Northern Territory University	Australia	Finished @ 14:12 / 1st	48:02	62.66	3010
8	24	O.S.U.	Japan	Finished @ 16:02 / 1st	49:52	60.36	3010
9	99	University of New South Wales	Australia	Finished @ 13:42 / 2nd	56:32	53.24	3010
10	60	Tokyo Salesian Polytechnic	Japan	Finished @ 09:36 / 3rd	61.26	49.00	3010
11	100	Queens University	Canada	Finished @ 09:39 / 3rd	61.29	48.96	3010
12	96	University of Western Ontario	Canada	Finished @ 12:09 / 3rd	63.59	47.04	3010
13	10	Tokai HS	Japan	Finished @ 13:45 / 3rd	65.35	45.90	3010
14	20	Mino Family	Japan	Finished @ 15:07 / 3rd	66.57	44.96	3010
15	17	Tokai University	Japan	Finished @ 15:20 / 3rd	67.10	44.81	3010
16	5	Lake Tuggeranong College	Australia	Finished @ 15:25 / 3rd	67.15	44.76	3010
17	88	Crested Ibis	Japan	Finished @ 16:01 / 3rd	67.51	44.36	3010
18	53	SunBa	Brazil	Finished @ 16:01 / 3rd	68.43	43.80	3010
19	777	Team Kataro	Japan	Finished @ 17:46 / 3rd	70.12	42.88	3010
20	8	Helios	France	Finished @ 09:59 / 4th	70.49	42.50	3010
21	400	France for W.S.C.	France	Finished @ 10:41 / 4th	71.31	42.90	3010
22	6	Hokkaido Automo. Eng. College	Japan	Finished @ 11:32 / 4th	72.22	41.59	3010
23	2001	Kirenjaku	Japan	Finished @ 12:27 / 4th	73.17	41.07	3010
24	45	Nippon Electronics College	Japan	Finished @ 12:44 / 4th	73.34	40.91	3010
25	16	UC Berkeley / Stanford University	United States	Finished @ 13:27 / 4th	74.17	40.52	3010
26	32	Soenderborg Teknikum	Denmark	Finished @ 13:31 / 4th	74.21	40.48	3010
27	66	Northern Sun	Canada	Finished @ 13:35 / 4th	74.25	40.45	3010
28	999	Jona Sun	Japan	Finished @ 15:09 / 4th	75.59	39.61	3010
29	49	Yokohama National University	Japan	Finished @ 10:14 / 5th	80:04	37.59	3010
30	69	Pumpkinseed	Japan	Finished @ 12:54 / 5th	82:44	36.38	3010
31	18	Annesley College	Australia	Finished @ 14:01 / 5th	83:51	35.90	3010
32	9	South Bank University	UK	Finished @ 14:14 / 5th	84:04	35.80	3010
	11	Los Altos High School (Hacienda Heights, California)	United States	North of Adelaide
	19	Akita	Japan	North of Adelaide
	29	Mexico Team	Mexico	withdrawn			1927.2
	21	Detlef Schmitz	Germany	withdrawn			1690

1999

The 1999 WSC was finally won by a "home" team, the Australian Aurora team's Aurora 101 took the prize while Queen's University was the runner-up in the most closely contested WSC so far. The SunRayce class of American teams was won by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[13]

Results
Place	Car no.	Team	Car name	Class	Country	Date in	Time in	Distance (km)	Total Time (HH:MM)	Avg Speed (km/h)
1	101		Aurora	Silicon/Exotic	Australia	Oct 21	16:36	2998.7	41:06	72.96
2	100		Radiance	Silicon/Exotic	Canada	Oct 21	17:03	2998.7	41:33	72.12
3	52		Sunshark	Silicon/Exotic	Australia	Oct 22	08:20	2998.7	41:50	71.86
4	15		Desert Rose	Silicon/Exotic	Australia	Oct 22	08:44	2998.7	42:14	71.00
5	3		KIT Golden Eagle	Silicon/Exotic	Japan	Oct 22	11:03	2998.7	44:33	67.31
6	8	Tamagawa Solar Challengers	Tamagawa Super Genbow	Silicon/Exotic	Japan	Oct 22	11:56	2998.7	45:26	66.00
7	10		Spirit of Canberra	Silicon/Exotic	Australia	Oct 22	12:01	2998.7	45:31	65.86
8	6		Manta GTX	Cut-out Class	United States	Oct 22	12:04	2998.7	45:34	65.81
9	2		Maize Blaze	Silicon/Exotic	United States	Oct 22	14:04	2998.7	47:34	63.04
10	24		OSU Model S	Silicon/Exotic	Japan	Oct 22	14:51	2998.7	48:21	62.02
11	4	Solar Motions	Cascade Cruiser	Private	United States	Oct 22	14:51	2998.7	48:21	62.02
12	59	Helios	Helios 2	Silicon/Exotic	France	Oct 22	17:32	2998.7	51:24	58.34
13	1	Tokai Shoyo High School	Shoyo Falcon	Secondary School	Japan	Oct 23	9:50	2998.7	52:20	57.30
14	26	SA Solar Car Consortium	Ned	Silicon	Australia	Oct 23	12:43	2998.7	55:13	54.31
15	999	Jona Sun	Jona Sun	Private	Japan	Oct 23	13:15	2998.7	55:45	53.79
16	65	Tokyo Salesian Polytechnic	Ikuei Neo II	Silicon	Japan	Oct 23	14:21	2998.8	56:51	52.75
17	16	Junkyard	Junkyard	Private	Japan	Oct 23	14:24	2998.7	56:54	52.70
18	50		Sunswift II	Silicon/Exotic	Australia	Oct 23	14:44	2998.7	57:14	52.39
19	5	Aoyama Gakuin	AGU Aglaia	Cut-out Class	Japan	Oct 23	15:51	2998.7	58:21	51.39
20	41	Southbank University of ESC	Mad Dog	Silicon/Exotic		Oct 23	16:41	2998.7	59:11	50.67
21	23		Capricorn Solar Flair	Silicon	Australia	Oct 24	8:57	2998.7	60:27	49.61
22	142		Solar Miner II	Cut-out Class	United States	Oct 24	11:55	2998.7	63:27	47.26
23	35		Aurora II	Cut-out Class	United States	Oct 24	12:01	2998.7	63:31	47.21
24	63	Futura	Futura 2	Private	Italy	Oct 24	13:42	2998.7	65:12	45.99
25	124		Midnight Sun V	Cut-out Class	Canada	Oct 25	14:45	2998.7	75:15	39.85
26	2001	Kirenjaku	Kirenjaku IV	Private	Japan	Oct 26	12:00	2998.7	81:30	36.79
27	634	Kashiwa kai-Musashi Tech	Musashi	Cut-out Class	Japan	Oct 26	13:38	2998.7	83:08	36.07
28	22	Shiga SPD Polytech College	Polytech Spirit	Silicon/Exotic	Japan	Oct 26	14:09	2998.7	83:39	35.85
29	13		Towards Tomorrow	Secondary School	Australia	Oct 26		2998.7	withdrawn due to time penalties
30	18		EOS	Secondary School	Australia	Oct 24		1842.0	withdrawn
31	27	Detlef Schmitz	Helio Det 4	Private	Germany	Oct 23		1591.0	withdrawn
32	34	Club Solar Car Denmark	Solar Car Denmark 3	Secondary School	Denmark	Oct 23		1489.0	withdrawn
33	28	Sunspeed Singapore Polytech	Sunspeed 1	Silicon		Oct 21		987.0	withdrawn
34	12	Dripstone High School	Aquila	Secondary School	Australia	Oct 20		830.0	withdrawn
35	42	Southern Cross College		Secondary School	Australia	Oct 20		830.0	withdrawn
36	58	Newburgh Sol Machine	NFA	Secondary School	United States	Oct 19		522.0	withdrawn
37	1999	Winston High School	Acclivus	Secondary School	United States	Oct 19		475.0	withdrawn
38	33	Tsuroka National College of Technology	Green Leaf IV	Silicon	Japan	19/10		421.0	withdrawn
39	9	Solar Stealth	Solar Stealth	Secondary School	United States	Oct 19		387.0	withdrawn
40	51	Mannum High School		Secondary School	Australia	Oct 17		70.0	withdrawn

2001

See main article: World Solar Challenge 2001. The 2001 WSC was won by Nuna of the Delft University of Technology from the Netherlands, participating for the first time. Aurora took second place.^{[14] [15]}

Results
Rank	Car No	Team	Car Name	Class	Country	Date In	Time In	Distance (km)	Total Time (HH:MM)	Avg Speed (km/h)
1	3		Nuna	Development		Nov 21	17:09	2997.8	32:39	91.81
2	101		Aurora	Development	Australia	Nov 22	08:43	2997.8	33:13	90.26
3	2		M-Pulse	Development	United States	Nov 22	09:49	2997.8	34:19	87.37
4	142		SolarMiner III	Development	United States	Nov 22	13:14	2997.8	37:44	79.45
5	100	Queens University	Mirage	Production	Canada	Nov 22	13:43	2997.8	38:13	78.45
6	77	University of Tamagawa (Team A)	White Dolphin	Production	Japan	Nov 22	14:53	2997.8	39:23	76.12
7	10		Spirit of Canberra	Production	Australia	Nov 22	16:07	2997.8	40:37	73.81
8	15	Northern Territory University	Desert Rose	Development	Australia	Nov 22	16:22	2997.8	40:52	73.36
9	33	Kanazawa Institute of Technology	KIT Golden Eagle	Development	Japan	Nov 22	17:03	2997.8	41:33	72.14
10***	4	Solar Motion	SoMo	Development	United States	Nov 23	09:07	2997.8	42:37	70.35
11	52	University of New South Wales	Sunswift II	Development	Australia	Nov 23	10:01	2997.8	43:31	68.89
12	88	University of Tamagawa(Team B)	Dolphin	Production	Japan	Nov 23	10:32	2997.8	44:02	68.08
13	11	Tokai University	Tokai Spirit 2001	Production	Japan	Nov 23	10:51	2997.8	44:21	67.59
14	12		Faust	Development	Canada	Nov 23	10:56	2997.8	44:26	67.47
15	24		Midnight Sun VI	Development	Canada	Nov 23	10:57	2997.8	44:27	67.45
16	41	South Bank University	Mad Dog 3	Production	UK	Nov 23	13:28	2997.8	46:58	63.83
17	55	Ashiya University	Sky-Ace Tiga	Production	Japan	Nov 23	14:49	2997.8	48:19	62.05
18	5		AGU Aglaia	Stock	Japan	Nov 23	14:52	2997.8	48:22	61.98
19	67	Tokyo Salesian Polytechnic	Ikuei Neo II	Production	Japan	Nov 23	14:58	2997.8	48:28	61.86
20	59	Helios	Helios 2-001	Development	France	Nov 24	09:18	2997.8	51:48	61.26
21	26	South Australia Solar Car Consortium	Ned	Stock	Australia	Nov 24	10:13	2997.8	52:23	57.23
22	17	Solehada	Solelhada	Stock	France	Nov 24	10:43	2997.8	53:13	56.33
23	51	Mannum Highschool	Christine	Production	Australia	Nov 26	16:17	2997.8	89:17	34.94
24	2001	Team of Kirenjaku	Kirenjaku Mini	Production	Japan	Nov 27	13:27	2531.6
25	6	Sungroper Solar Car Association	Sungroper	Stock	Australia	Nov 26	17:03	2301.5
26	13	Kormilda College	Towards Tomorrow	Stock	Australia	Nov 26	11:34	2257.3
27	4740	Team Ornithorhychus	Ornithorhychus	Stock	Australia	Nov 26	12:35	2063.8
28	50	Burdekin Highschool	Spirit of Burdekin	Stock	Australia	Nov 26	12:48	2008.6
29	62	South Australia Solar Car Consortium	Kelly	Production	Australia	Nov 23	15:31	1819.7
30	7	Vehicle Solaire Neo-Caledonien	Defi Solaire	Production	New Caledonia	Nov 25	12:35	1531.0
	75	Hutt Valley High School	Hutt Valley	Stock	New Zealand	Withdrawn
	21	HelioDet	Heliodet 5	Stock	Germany	Withdrawn
	42	Southern Cross College	Southern Exposure	Stock	Australia	Withdrawn
		Greenfleet	Honda Insight	Demonstration	Australia			2997.8
	2500	Biel	Spirit of Biel	Demonstration	Switzerland			2997.9
	53	Honda Australia	Insight	Demonstration	Australia			2997.9
	18	Annesley College	EOS Spirit of Unley	Demonstration	Australia			2997.9
Solar Motion was originally recorded arriving in 4th place at 12:07 on Nov 22, but was later penalized

2003

See main article: World Solar Challenge 2003. In the 2003 WSC Nuna 2, the successor to the winner of 2001 won again, with an average speed of 97km/h, while Aurora took second place again.^[16]

Results
Rank	Car No.	Team	Car Name	Country	Date In	Time In	Distance (km)	Time (hr:mn)	Avg Speed (km/h)
1	3		Nuna II		Oct 22	15:24	2997.8	30:54	97.02
2	101		Aurora	Australia	Oct 22	17:07	2997.8	32:37	91.90
3	9		Tesseract	United States	Oct 23	08:22	2997.8	32:52	91.20
4	100		Gemini	Canada	Oct 23	13:46	2997.8	38:16	78.33
5	41		Hans Go	Germany	Oct 23	16:26	2997.8	40:56	73.24
6	32		Ra V	United States	Oct 23	16:50	2997.8	41:20	72.53
7	95	Southern Taiwan University	Apollo IV		Oct 24	10:30	2997.8	44:00	68.13
8	62	SA Consortium	Kelly	Australia	Oct 24	11:45	2997.8	45:15	66.25
9	5		AGU Aglaia	Japan	Oct 24	15:56	2997.8	49:26	60.65
10	99	Aurora/RMIT	Southern Aurora	Australia	Oct 25	10:06	2997.8	52:36	56.99
11	13	Kormilda College	Towards Tomorrow	Australia	Oct 25	15:03	2997.8	57:33	52.09
12	4	Universiti Teknologi Malaysia	Suria Kar 2	Malaysia	Oct 26	09:39	2997.8	61:09	49.02
13	66	National Taiwan University	Formosun II	Taiwan	Oct 26	09:51	2997.8	61:21	48.86
14	21	HelioDet	Heliodet 6	Germany	Oct 28	13:39	2997.8	82:49	36.20
	77	Hachinohe Institute of Technology	Hi Tech	Japan	Oct 28		2302.9
	8	Houston Solar Race Team	Sundancer	United States	Oct 27		2188.1
	59	Helios III	Roadrunner	France	Oct 27		2208.2
	6	Leeming Senior High	Sungroper	Australia	Oct 27		1565.6
	51	Mannum High School	Christine	Australia	Oct 27		1001.0
	42	Southern Cross Catholic College	Southern Exposure	Australia	Oct 28		1000.6
	2003	Winston Solar Car Team	Astropower	United States	Oct 26		720.2
	145	Universidad del Turabo	The Paradise	Puerto Rico	Oct 26		373.8

2005

See main article: World Solar Challenge 2005. In the 2005 WSC the top finishers were the same for the third consecutive event as Nuon's Nuna 3 won with a record average speed of 102.752NaN2, and Aurora was the runner-up.^[17]

Results
Rank	Car No.	Team	Car Name	Class	Country	Arrival Time	km	Speed (km/h)
1	3		Nuna 3	Open		13:41 Wed 28th	2998.3	102.75
2	101		Aurora	Open	Australia	17:05 Wed 28th	2998.3	92.03
3	2		Momentum	Open	United States	08:48 Thurs 29th	2998.3	90.03
4	81		Sky Ace TIGA	Open	Japan	09:15 Thurs 29th	2998.3
5	66	National Taiwan University	Formosun 3	Open		11:31 Thurs 29th	2998.3
6	6		Tesseract	Open	United States	15:30 Thurs 29th	2998.3
7	95	Apollo	Apollo 5	Open		15:45 Thurs 29th	2998.3
8	41		Hans Go	Open	Germany	16:35 Thurs 29th	2998.3
9	8		Solutra	Open		10:36 Fri 30th	2998.3
10	65	University of Calgary	Soleon	Production	Canada	13:45 Fri 30th	2998.3
11	7	Umicore Solar Car	Umicore	Open	Belgium	14:34 Fri 30th	2998.3
12	62	TAFE SA	Kelly	Production	Australia	15:43 Fri 30th	2998.3
13	5	Aoyama Gakuin University	Aglaia	Production	Japan	9:56 Sat 1st	2998.3
14	13	Kormilda College	Towards Tomorrow	Stock	Australia	13:24 Sat 1st	2998.3
15	168	Southern Taiwan University	Phoenix	Open	Taiwan	14:35 Sat 1st	2998.3
16	80	Sunspeed	Jules Verne	Open	France	10:52 Sun 2nd	2726
17	96	University of Western Ontario	Sunstang	Open	Canada	15:23 Sun 2nd	1573
18	20	Leeming Senior High	Sungroper	Production	Australia	19:06 Sat 1st	591
	49	UNSW Sydney	Sunswift III	Open	Australia	17:10 Thurs 29th	2998.3
	99	Southern Aurora	Southern Aurora	Open	Australia	officially withdrawn Alice Springs 16:13 - 27th Sept
	21	Heliodet	Heliodet	Production	Germany	officially withdrawn Dunmarra 15:45 - 26th Sept
*** Sunswift were unable to qualify, but were given permission to run with the event|} 2007 See main article: World Solar Challenge 2007. The 2007 WSC saw the Dutch Nuon Solar team score their fourth successive victory with Nuna 4 in the Challenge Class, averaging 90.072NaN2 under the new, more restrictive rules, while the Belgian Punch Powertrain Solar Team's Umicar Infinity placed second.^[18] The Adventure Class was added this year, run under the old rules, and won by Japanese Ashiya team's Tiga. Challenge results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 2999 33:00 90.87 2 Umicore Belgium 2999 34:36 88.05 3 Australia 2999 35:17 85.00 4 Bochum Solar World 1 Germany 2999 41:09 72.87 5 2999 44:08 67.95 6 2999 44:46 66.83 7 United States 2999 44:55 66.76 8 Canada 2999 51:43 57.98 9 Canada 2999 54:49 54.70 10 Helios France 2999 59:24 50.80 11 Solar Fox 2719 12 Sinag 2691 13 Sun Speed France 2002 14 1862 15 Canada 1345 16 Leeming HS Australia 1050 17 Gwawr 740 18 Heliox Switzerland 735 19 250 The Japanese Ashiya team's Tiga won the Adventure Class, run under the old rules, with an average speed of 93.532NaN2. Adventure results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 Japan 2999 32:03 93.57 2 Apollo 2999 35:43 83.96 3 Australia 2999 40:44 73.63 4 Australia 2999 44:11 67.88 5 Canada 2999 46:19 64.74 6 Christine Aurora Australia 2999 46:33 64.42 7 TAFE SA Australia 2999 50:52 58.95 8 Japan 2999 58:19 51.42 9 Towards Tomorrow Australia 2896 10 2719 11 HelioDet Germany 2517 12 Solar Fern New Zealand 2233 13 United States 1864 14 Canada 1680 15 Japan 1675 16 Canada 1772 17 Willetton Australia 729 18 Houston HS United States 143 2009 See main article: World Solar Challenge 2009. The 2009 WSC was won by the "Tokai Challenger", built by the Tokai University Solar Car Team in Japan with an average speed of 100.542NaN2. The longtime reigning champion Nuon Solar Team's Nuna 5 finished in second place.^[19] Challenger results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 Japan 3021 29:49 100.54 2 3021 32:38 91.88 3 United States 3021 33:08 90.49 4 Australia 3021 39:18 76.28 5 United States 3021 40:41 73.70 6 Australia 3021 42:20 70.82 7 United States 3021 43:23 69.11 8 3021 44:53 66.80 9 Bochum Solar World 1 Germany 2896 10 United States 2719 11 1953 12 Bochum Bo Cruiser Germany 1850 13 Belenos France 1645 14 1616 15 1437 16 1380 17 Heliox Switzerland 1042 18 Leeming HS Australia 950 19 Willetton HS Australia 906 20 Umicore Belgium 380 21 Canada 287 22 Uniten Solar Ranger Team 250 23 Canada 146 24 Canada 96 The Sunswift IV built by students at the University of New South Wales, Australia was the winner of the Silicon-based Solar Cell Class, while Japan's Osaka Sangyo University's OSU Model S won the Adventure class. Adventure results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 OSU Japan 3021 34:45 86.27 2 Australia 3021 44:17 67.71 3 Goko HS Japan 2719 61.77 4 Helios France 2719 58.31 5 SolarShop Kelly Australia 2217 6 Towards Tomorrow Australia 1156 7 CPDM 514 2011 See main article: World Solar Challenge 2011. In the 2011 WSC Tokai University took their second title with an updated "Tokai Challenger" averaging 91.542NaN2, and finishing just an hour before Nuna 6 of the Delft University of Technology.^[20] The challenge was marred by delays caused by wildfires. Results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 Japan 2998 32:45 91.54 2 2998 33:50 88.60 3 United States 2998 35:33 84.33 4 Japan 2998 44:57 66.70 5 2998 44:04 66.53 6 Australia 2998 48:38 61.65 7 Australia 2998 48:45 61.50 8 2765 9 Apollo 2650 10 Umicore Belgium 2636 11 United States 2547 12 2454 13 Team Okinawa Japan 2408 14 2263 15 United States 2222 16 Switzerland 2221 17 1891 18 Canada 1840 19 Team Solar Philippines 1815 20 United States 1811 21 Onda Solare Italy 1751 22 1709 23 Anadolu 1675 24 Canada 1661 25 1487 26 Germany 1454 27 Canada 1415 28 United States 1303 29 Seraaj 1269 30 Canada 1116 31 1027 32 Solar Spirit Australia Australia 801 33 552 34 Solaris India 301 35 UMP 229 36 Uniten Solar Ranger Team 223 37 Green Maniac 73 2013 See main article: World Solar Challenge 2013. The 2013 WSC featured the introduction of the Cruiser Class, which comprised more 'practical' solar cars with 2–4 occupants. The inaugural winner was Solar Team Eindhoven's Stella from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands with an average speed of 74.522NaN2, while second place was taken by the PowerCore SunCruiser vehicle from team Hochschule Bochum in Germany, who inspired the creation of the Cruiser Class by racing more practical solar cars in previous WSC events. The Australian team, the University of New South Wales solar racing team Sunswift was the fastest competitor to complete the route, but was awarded third place overall after points were awarded for 'practicality' and for carrying passengers.^[21] Cruiser Results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Person kilometers External energy (kWh) Practicality (%) Final score (%) 1 3022 40:14 9093 64.0 88.3 97.5 2 Germany 3022 41:38 6484 63.5 87.0 93.9 3 Australia 3022 38:35 3022 64.0 70.7 92.3 4 United States 3022 51:41 5454 64.0 69.3 79.2 5 Goko HS Japan 2288 70.7 6 Apollo 1558 50.3 7 TAFE SA Solar Spirit Australia 1469 71.7 8 Canada 719 78.0 In the Challenger Class, the Dutch team from Delft University of Technology took back the title with Nuna 7 and an average speed of 90.712NaN2, while defending champions Tokai University finished second after an exciting close competition, which saw a 10–30 minute distance, though they drained the battery in final stint due to bad weather and finished some 3 hours later; an opposite situation of the previous challenge in 2011.^[22] Challenger results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 3022 33:03 90.71 2 Japan 3022 36:22 82.43 3 3022 37:38 79.67 4 United States 3022 39:31 75.86 5 Switzerland 3022 40:13 74.54 6 Punch Powertrain (KU Leuven) Belgium 3022 40:28 74.08 7 Team Arrow Australia 3022 43:38 68.71 8 Canada 3022 45:38 65.71 9 United States 3022 45:55 65.29 10 Onda Solare Italy 3022 48:25 61.92 11 Australia 2891 12 Japan 2564 13 EAFIT-EPM 2505 14 Japan 2450 15 KUST 2013 16 SunSPEC 1676 17 1613 18 Canada 1530 19 Sun Shuttle China 1398 20 Sweden 1301 21 ITS 748 22 UMP 616 The Adventure Class was won by Aurora's Aurora Evolution.^[23] Adventure results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 Australia 3022 38:39 77.57 2 3022 49:31 60.54 3 Sikat Solar 2487 4 IVE 2105 5 KAIT Japan 1533 6 Solaris 1481 7 Mississippi Choctaw HS United States 164 2015 The 2015 WSC was held on 15–25 October with the same classes as the 2013 challenge. In the Cruiser Class, the winner was once again Solar Team Eindhoven's Stella Lux from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands with an average speed of 76.732NaN2, while the second place team was Kogakuin University from Japan who was the first to cross the finish line, but did not receive as many points for passenger-kilometers and practicality. Bochum took 3rd place this year with the latest in their series of cruiser cars.^[24] Cruiser Results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Person kilometers External energy (kWh) Practicality (%) Final score (%) 1 3022 39:23 6044 29.68 84.5 97.27 2 Japan 3022 37:52 3022 29.71 51.75 93.61 3 Germany 3022 48:30 4528 29.68 80.5 82.91 4 Australia 3022 54:03 3022 29.68 54.0 72.91 5 United States 3022 58:27 4009 29.68 38.5 68.21 6 0 12.5 61.75 42.93 7 2113 29.83 63.5 24.19 8 896 29.83 51.5 21.41 9 768 29.97 50 21.41 10 1036 29.43 42.5 21.00 11 1161 29.97 35.75 20.05 In the Challenger Class, the team from Delft University of Technology retained the title with Nuna 8 and an average speed of 91.752NaN2, while their Dutch counterparts, the University of Twente, who led most of the challenge, finished just 8 minutes behind them in second place, making 2015 the closest finish in WSC history. Tokai University passed the University of Michigan on the last day of the event to take home the bronze.^[25] Challenger results Rank Team Country Distance (km) Time (hr:mn) Speed (km/h) 1 3022 37:56 91.75 2 3022 38:04 91.63 3 Japan 3022 38:50 89.41 4 United States 3022 38:54 89.29 5 Punch Powertrain (KU Leuven) Belgium 3022 39:19 88.10 6 United States 3022 41:24 83.14 7 Hungary 3022 43:04 79.70 8 Team Arrow Australia 3022 45:22 76.71 9 EAFIT-EPM 3022 46:19 73:29 10 Australia 3022 46:51 72.21 11 3022 47:22 71.70 12 Canada 3022 47:40 70.91 13 3022 47:53 70.40 14 GOKO High School Japan 3022 50:22 66.74 15 Sweden 3022 50:36 66.39 16 Japan 3022 50:42 66.25 17 United States 3022 54:51 60.62 18 Japan 3022 56:24 58.91 19 3022 57:48 58.00 20 3022 60:00 54.78 21 Australia 2292 22 2047 23 United States 1835 24 China 1823 25 1575 26 97 27 0 The Adventure Class was won by the Houston High School solar car team from Houston, Mississippi, United States.^[26] Adventure results Rank Team Country Distance (km) 1 Houston HS United States 2441 2 Australia 1289 3 Liberty Christian School United States 1288 2017 The 2017 WSC was held on 8–15 October, featuring the same classes as 2015. The Dutch NUON team won again in the Challenger class, which concluded on 2017-10-12, and in the Cruiser Class, the winner was once again Solar Team Eindhoven, from the Netherlands as well.^[27] Challenger results Rank Team Car name Country Distance (km) Average speed ((km/h)) 1 Nuon Solar Team Nuna9 Netherlands 3021 km 81.2 km/h 2 University of Michigan Solar Car Team Novum United States 3021 km 77.1 km/h 3 Punch Powertrain Solar Team Punch Two Belgium 3021 km 76.2 km/h 4 Tokai University Tokai Challenger Japan 3021 km 75.9 km/h 5 Solar Team Twente RED Shift Netherlands 3021 km 75.6 km/h 6 Western Sydney Solar Team Unlimited 2.0 Australia 3021 km 65.5 km/h 7 Kogakuin University Solar Team Wing Japan 3021 km 63.8 km/h 8 46. JUsolarteam Solveig Sweden 3021 km 59.7 km/h 9 16. Stanford Solar Car Project Sundae United States 3021 km 59.5 km/h 10 4. Antakari Solar Team INTIKALLPA IV Chile 3021 km 59.1 km/h 11 77. Blue Sky Solar Racing Polaris Canada 3021 km 58.6 km/h 12 25. NITech Solar Racing Horizon 17 Japan 3021 km 58.0 km/h Cruiser results Rank Team Car name Country Charges P-km External energy Efficiency (P-km/kWh) Efficiency score 1 Solar Team Eindhoven Stella Vie Netherlands 6 10197 45.7 kWh 223.2 80 2 HS Bochum SolarCar-Team Thyssenkrupp Blue.Cruiser Germany 6 7865 88.2 kWh 89.2 32 3 Clenergy Team Arrow Arrow STF Australia 6 5263 91.5 kWh 57.5 20.6 4 IVE Solar Car Team SOPHIE VI Hong Kong 6 3021 45.4 kWh 66.5 0 5 University of Minnesota Solar Vehicle Project Eos II United States 6 3644 40.5 kWh 90 0 Adventure results Team Car name Country Arrival time Mississippi Choctaw High School Solar Car Team Tushka Hashi III United States 10/13/2018 13:56 NWU Solar Naledi South Africa 10/13/2018 15:40 Principia Solar Car Ra X United States 10/14/2018 08:39 Adelaide University Solar Racing Team Lumen II Australia 10/14/2018 09:35 MDH Solar Team MDH Solar Car Sweden 10/14/2018 09:40 GOKO HIGH SCHOOL MUSOUSHIN Japan 10/14/2018 09:43 KUST (Kookmin University Solar car Team) Taegeuk South Korea 10/14/2018 10:24 Illini Solar Car Argo United States 10/14/2018 10:47 Team Sonnenwagen Aachen HUAWEI Sonnenwagen Germany 10/14/2018 10:50 MTAA Super Sol Invictus MTAA Super Charge Australia 10/14/2018 11:05 PrISUm Penumbra United States 10/13/2018 13:25 SunSPEC SunSPEC5 Singapore 10/13/2018 12:49 UiTM Eco Photon TUAH Malaysia 10/14/2018 11:20 UNSW Solar Racing Team Sunswift Violet Australia 10/13/2018 09:51 Flinders Automotive Solar Team Investigator Mk III Australia 10/13/2018 14:53 University of Tehran Solar Car Team Persian Gazelle IV Iran 10/16/2018 17:00 Durham University Electric Motorsport DUSC United Kingdom 10/14/2018 12:52 STC-2 Nikola Nikola Thailand 10/13/2018 11:40 ITU Solar Car Team B.O.W. ISTANBUL Turkey 10/14/2018 12:16 RVCE Solar Car Team ARKA India 10/16/2018 17:00 Lodz Solar Team Eagle Two Poland 10/13/2018 15:05 TAFE SA SAV Australia 10/13/2018 10:51 National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences (KUAS) & St. John's University Solar Car Team Apollo VIII Taiwan 10/14/2018 08:46 2019 The 2019 WSC was held from 13 to 20 October. 53 teams from 24 countries entered the competition,^[28] featuring the same three classes, Challenger (30 teams), Cruiser (23 teams) and Adventure.^[29] In the Challenger class, Agoria Solar Team (formerly Punch Powertrain) won for the first time. Tokai University Solar Car Team finished in second place.^[30] In the Cruiser class, Solar Team Eindhoven won their fourth consecutive title.^[31] Despite multiple incidents on the road, Team Sonnenwagen Aachen managed to beat other teams and finished in 6th position. Several teams had mishaps. Vattenfall was leading when their car Nuna X caught fire. The driver was uninjured, but the vehicle was destroyed. It was the first no-finish for that team in 20 years. Others were badly affected by strong winds. Dutch team Twente was leading the journey at, when their car was forced off the road by winds and rolled over. The driver was taken to hospital. Within 30 minutes team Sonnenwagen Aachen was also blown off the road north of Coober Pedy, the driver was not hurt. An speed limit was then imposed by event officials, lifted when conditions improved. The day before, wind damage to solar panels put the team from Western Sydney University out of the challenge. The driver of Agoria from Belgium escaped injury when their vehicle was "uprooted" at 100 km/h (62 mph) by severe winds, but still went on to win the Challenger class.^[32] ^[33] Challenger results Rank Team Car name Country Distance (km) Average speed ((km/h)) 1 Agoria Solar Team Bluepoint Belgium 3019 km 86.6 km/h 2 Tokai University Solar Car Team Tokai Challenger Japan 3019 km 86.1 km/h 3 University of Michigan Solar Car Team Electrum USA 3019 km 79.6 km/h 4 Top Dutch Solar Racing Green Lightning Netherlands 3019 km 78.4 km/h 5 Kogakuin University Solar Team Kute Eagle Japan 3019 km 72.1 km/h 6 Team Sonnenwagen Aachen e.V. Covestro Sonnenwagen Germany 3019 km 71.8 km/h 7 Antakari Solar Team INTIKALLPA V Chile 3019 km 66.9 km/h 8 Nagoya Institute of Technology Solar Racing Horizon Ace Japan 3019 km 66.5 km/h 9 Eclipse Eclipse X Canada 3019 km 65.1 km/h 10 JU Solar Team Axelent Sweden 3019 km 64.6 km/h 11 Blue Sky Solar Racing Viridian Canada 3019 km 63.2 km/h Cruiser results Rank Team Country Stages completed Score 1 Solar Team Eindhoven Netherlands 3 111.7 2 sUNSWift UNSW Sydney Australia 3 56.1 3 IVE Engineering Solar Car Team Hong Kong 3 44.2 4 SolarCar-Team Hochschule Bochum Germany 1 48.4 5 Sun Shuttle China 1 17.4 6 University of Minnesota USA 1 14.6 Adventure results 2021 In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia the WSC closed entries three months earlier than normal, on 18 December 2020. They were then to "… review all current government measures relating to social distancing, density and contact tracing, international travel restrictions and isolation requirements." On 12 February 2021, the South Australian Government confirmed the cancellation of the 2021 staging of the event. While the COVID-19 pandemic was not explicitly cited as the reason, the "complexities of international border closures" affecting Australia at the time appear to be the primary reason for the event's cancellation. The same statement also noted the next event would take place in October 2023 - at least 962 days from the date of announcement, and resulting in a four-year gap between events.^[34] Registered teams should receive a full refund of all fees.^[35] 2023 The 2023 World Solar Challenge was held from October 22-29. At the beginning of the race, 31 teams were participating, with 23 in the Challenger division and 8 in the Cruiser division.^[36] The Challenger division was won by defending champions Innoptus (formerly Agoria) with an average speed of 88.2km/h, and the Cruiser division was won by UNSW Sunswift with a score of 91.1.^[37] ^[38] Uniquely, no Cruisers were able to finish the race this year. Many of the leading teams faced trouble during the competition. Dutch team Top Dutch raced on a perovskite-tandem solar array damaged from testing in the month leading up to race. Michigan experienced electrical issues during qualifying and had to start last. German team Sonnenwagen was blown off the road just outside of Port Agusta and had to withdraw due to new regulations.^[39] Tokai had to stop for several hours on Day 4 to repair their car after sustaining damage from crossing a cattle grid. Kogakuin had consistent problems with their MPPT charge controller, and reported in an Instagram post that their panels were generating less than half the power than they should have been.^[40] On the fifth day of the competition, only 4 teams (Innoptus, Twente, Brunel, and Michigan) had finished the course, and by the official end of timing, only 12 teams made it to the finish line successfully. See also Solar car racing List of prototype solar-powered cars List of solar car teams Shell Eco-marathon The Quiet Achiever, the world's first solar-powered racecar Other solar vehicle challenges American Solar Challenge, a biennial United States event held since 1990 that has previously included Canada Formula Sun Grand Prix, an annual U.S. event held on race tracks. The Solar Car Challenge, an annual event for High School students from the U.S. and (to a lesser extent) other parts of the world, first held in 1995 South African Solar Challenge, a biennial South African event that was first held in 2008 Victorian Model Solar Vehicle Challenge, an annual event in Australia for schoolchildren European Solar Challenge, a biennial 24-hour race in Belgium Atacama Solar Race, a biennial event held in Chile Movie Race the Sun, a movie loosely based on a participating team External links Images from Alice Springs, Australia – 2007 An overview of all the competing teams in the 2013 WSC.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mission: Serving Society with Superior Quality . 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge . Bridgestone . 13 February 2021 . en-US . 2017.
2. Web site: History . worldsolarchallenge.org . South Australian Tourism Commission . 13 February 2021 . en . 9 February 2021.
3. Web site: Stella Vie is officially road legal! . Solar Team Eindhoven . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190405123629/https://solarteameindhoven.nl/stella-vie-officially-road-legal/ . 5 April 2019 . 23 August 2017.
4. Web site: KENTEKEN CHECK PP-301-S (Dutch public registration info for license-plate PP-301-S). Autoweek.nl . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171008154027/https://www.autoweek.nl/kentekencheck/PP-301-S . 8 October 2017 . nl . 6 August 2017 . live.
5. Web site: 2015 Team List . World Solar Challenge . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150613003450/http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/team_info/2015_team_list . 13 June 2015 . en-AU . 5 June 2015 . dead.
6. Web site: An epic journey revisited. The People & Environment Blog. 8 September 2016 . National Museum of Australia. 18 June 2017.
7. News: Barry. Courtney. RACING; Here They Come, as Fast as the Sun Will Carry Them. 18 June 2017. The New York Times. 22 October 2003.
8. http://140.112.14.7/~ifplab/solar/team.htm#1987 1987 World Solar Teams
9. Book: Wakefield . Ernest H. . History of the Electric Automobile . 1 October 1998 . SAE International . 978-0-7680-0125-9 . 13 February 2021 . Softbound.
10. http://140.112.14.7/~ifplab/solar/team.htm#1990 1990 World Solar Challenge Teams
11. http://140.112.14.7/~ifplab/solar/team.htm#1993 1993 World Solar Challenge Entry List
12. http://140.112.14.7/~ifplab/solar/team.htm#1996 1996 World Solar Challenge Team
13. http://140.112.14.7/~ifplab/solar/team.htm#1999 1999 World Solar Challenge Teams
14. Web site: Final Results for the 2001 Solar Odyssey . World Solar Challenge . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20020613175609/http://www.wsc.org.au/Results/2001/final.solar . 13 June 2002 . 27 November 2001 . dead.
15. Web site: Teams List 2001 . World Solar Challenge . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20020606102542/http://www.wsc.org.au/Teams/2001/ . 6 June 2002.
16. Web site: Zero to Darwin Project - 2003WSC - Final result . www.zdp.co.jp . 13 February 2021 . Japanese . 28 October 2003 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20051030212044/http://www.wsc.org.au/2003/ . 30 October 2005.
17. Web site: Honour Roll - 1987 to 2013 . World Solar Challenge . 13 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150611141622/http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/about_wsc_2015/history/honour_roll . 11 June 2015 . en-AU . 4 June 2014 . dead.
18. http://www.twikeklub.ch/images/1_2007_Final_Results.pdf WSC 2007 results
19. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/70_history_results-to-date.pdf WSC 2009 results
20. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/17_final_results_document_audited.pdf WSC 2011 results
21. Web site: WSC 2013 Cruiser class results . 15 June 2015 . 9 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160309234634/http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/493_final_results_sunday_cruiser_class.pdf . dead .
22. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/492_final_results_sunday_challenger_class.pdf WSC 2013 Challenger class results
23. Web site: WSC 2013 Adventure class results . 15 June 2015 . 9 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160309072841/http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/491_final_results_sunday_adventure_class.pdf . dead .
24. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/1492_v3_official_times_cruiser_class_display.pdf WSC 2015 Cruiser class results
25. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/files/1489_2015_bwsc_challenger_class_outright_results.pdf WSC 2015 Challenger class results
26. Web site: WSC 2015 Adventure class results . World Solar Challenge . 6 November 2015 . 15 May 2018.
27. Web site: 2017 World Solar Challenge Results . 15 May 2018 . World Solar Challenge . https://web.archive.org/web/20180515171816/https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/dashboard/timing . 15 May 2018.
28. Web site: CHARGING THE FUTURE – NEXT-GEN DREAMS TO REALITY World Solar Challenge 2019. www.worldsolarchallenge.org. 16 July 2019. 16 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190716102644/https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/blogs/2019/06/11/charging_the_future__next_gen_dreams_to_reality. dead.
29. News: The Guardian. Chasing the sun: the World Solar Challenge 2019. 19 October 2019. 21 October 2019.
30. Web site: Agoria claims first title . worldsolarchallenge.org . South Australian Tourism Commission . 13 February 2021 . en . 17 October 2019.
31. Web site: It's cruise control all the way for Solar Team Eindhoven . worldsolarchallenge.org . South Australian Tourism Commission . 13 February 2021 . en-AU . 21 October 2019.
32. News: Slessor . Camron . Campbell . Claire . Leading car at World Solar Challenge bursts into flames forcing team Vattenfall out of challenge . 13 February 2021 . ABC News . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 17 October 2019 . en-AU.
33. News: Campbell . Claire . Opie . Rebecca . Two cars blown off road during World Solar Challenge near Coober Pedy . ABC News . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 13 February 2021 . 16 October 2019 . en-AU.
34. Web site: 2021 CHALLENGE UPDATE . worldsolarchallenge.org . South Australian Tourist Commission . 13 February 2021 . en-AU . 12 February 2021 . The 16th edition of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge will not go ahead from 22-30 October this year..
35. Web site: COVID-19 and the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge . worldsolarchallenge.org . South Australian Tourism Commission . 13 February 2021 . en-AU . 7 October 2020.
36. Web site: Charging towards the future…31 teams off to chase the sun… World Solar Challenge 2023 . worldsolarchallenge.org . 28 October 2023.
37. Web site: World Solar Challenge 2023 . 2023-12-20 . worldsolarchallenge.org.
38. Web site: World Solar Challenge 2023 . 2023-12-20 . worldsolarchallenge.org.
39. Web site: Day 5: We are out of the race! . 2023-12-20 . Team Sonnenwagen Aachen . en-US.
40. Web site: Instagram . 2023-12-20 . www.instagram.com.