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CHARLES MOLELE
THE Sasol Solar Challenge, now in its 14th year, is proving critics wrong; a solar-powered car can actually make for a good road-trip vehicle, despite all their caveats.
The eight-day Sasol Solar Challenge road-trip started with much fanfare at the Carnival City Casino, east of Johannesburg, with event officials, sponsors and VIP guests, including the Belgium and Dutch embassy officials, who gathered at the venue to wish the teams good luck at the starting line.
According to Robert Walker, owner and Director of the Sasol Solar Challenge, the eight solar car teams in competition are set to race across five provinces from Johannesburg to Cape Town, demonstrating the power of the sun and showcasing their engineering skills in 18 towns – including, among others, Sasolburg, Kroonstad, Winburg, Gariep Dam and the small town of Graaff Reinet, also known as the ‘Gem of the Karoo’.
The roads on the journey are expected to include meandering mountains, backroads through quaint small towns, arrow-straight highways and big-city traffic.
Day one of the Sasol Solar Challenge started in Brakpan, through Sasolburg and finished in Kroonstad.
With 569.8 km, the Brunel Solar Team from Belgium secured the top spot after the first day of the event while Agoria took second place with an official 470.2 km.
TUT took third position with an incredible 420.4 km for the day.
Earlier in the week, the solar car teams participating in this year’s Sasol Solar Challenge successfully completed the scrutineering process conducted in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), as well as with the help of 12 volunteers from across the world.
School learners from Sasolburg had the opportunity to work with a microbotics team from Bloemfontein. The microbotics team believes in #STEM education and problem solving.
Day one of the Sasol Solar Challenge also incorporated a schools programme, which took place in Sasolburg, during the first control stop of the event.
The programme was attended by roughly 800 learners from different schools in the area.
Learners took turns in three stations at the venue to learn about solar technology, e-mobility and robotics in real-life.
“Our vision is to educate and train young children and teachers in programming, electronic and robotic skills by getting them to play with technology. In doing so, the child overcomes his/her fear of technology, kindles an interest in creating something to play with and develops the foundational building blocks in coding and robotics,” said Floris Niehaus, CEO at Microbotics said.
“Microbotics aims to simplify STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educational and make it interesting to young people. Our vision is to educate and train young people and teachers in programming, electronic and robotic skills by getting them to play with technology. We are grateful to the Sasol Solar Challenge for this opportunity to come here and engage with the school learners and through our demos, show them how different STEM and energy concepts work.”
Among other schools that attended the schools programme was the Lehutso Primary School in Sasolburg.
The school principal said he was pleased to see the learners participate in initiatives that inspire them to pursue STEM education.
“We are grateful to the Sasol Solar Challenge for organising the schools programme. Our learners have started working on energy solutions to address challenges that are faced by the community and the school itself. Their participation in this programme motivates and inspires them to develop even bigger energy and STEM solutions, and hopefully a solar car, which can compete in the Sasol Solar Challenge,” said Mpho Mofokeng, a school principal at Lehutso Primary School.
#sasolsolarchallenge. Carnival City, Brakpan.
INSIDE EDUCATION