Volkswagen and NMMU power up for Solar Challenge

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Volkswagen Group South Africa and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) have collaborated to produce ‘Photon’, a solar powered car that will take part in the 3^rd South African Solar Challenge on 18-29 September 2012.

Unveiled at NMMU on 3 September 2012, ‘Photon’ will be competing against various international teams including Japan and the Netherlands. “Volkswagen is excited to be involved in such a unique project with the NMMU engineering students. Renewable energy will play a significant role in the future of the automotive industry and by embarking on such a project, the students will gain valuable knowledge that they can bring into the engineering field,” said Tom Du Plessis, Director for Production at VWSA.

The team has also acquired three support vehicles from VWSA in the form of a Crafter, T5 Kombi and Caddy which will be used for the duration of the two-week race that covers 5 000km.

Clive Hands, project leader of the VWSA-NMMU Solar Car team, said: “Our team consists of both local and international students from multiple faculties studying at NMMU. They have all voluntarily participated in this exciting project since its inception in May last year.”

“The solar car has been designed to be a light as possible utilising composite technology in both the monocoque and the body shell to minimise rolling resistance. The CFD techniques have enabled the design of the body shell to be aerodynamic to ensure that drag is reduced to a minimum,” added Hands.

“All sub-systems have been designed and manufactured to reduce energy consumption as much as possible. The car will travel the width and breadth of South Africa with its 6m² solar deck producing power not more than it takes to run a hair-dryer,” concluded Hands.

The team is working tirelessly to finalise testing, preparation and tweaking which will ensure that ‘Photon’ crosses the finish line without any problems.

Matthew Fish, a BTech NMMU Mechanical Engineering student said “The team has been putting in long hours so that ‘Photon’ is ready for the challenge in the next few weeks. We are confident that all of our efforts will pay off. We want to thank Volkswagen who have generously given us advice, assistance and time in this huge and unique challenge”.

For more information check out www.solarchallenge.co.za 

News Source: Volkswagen South Africa