Liberty and CoServ Electric – A Great Solar Car Partnership
This story along with videos and pictures can be found at http://www.coserv.com/Community/AcademicInitiatives/SolarCarChallenge/tabid/383/Default.aspx#RaceWeekSlideShow
CoServ strives to support community endeavors and educational institutions that focus on alternative uses of energy.
At Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, students research the intricacies of solar power by participating in the Solar Car Challenge (see www.solarcarchallenge.org/). The Solar Car Challenge is designed to help motivate students in science, engineering, technology, and alternative energy by teaching high school students how to design, engineer, build, and safely race a roadworthy solar car. Led by shop teacher Ken Marko, the students at Liberty Christian built a car completely powered by battery and solar panels. The car, Solar Rain, was entered to race against cars developed and built by other students across the country.
The 2011 Solar Car Challenge took place at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth July 18 through July 21 with the students driving the Solar Rain car around the 1.5-mile-long track in morning and afternoon race sessions. The ultimate goal of the race is to accrue the most total laps over the course of the multi-day event. All totaled, the Solar Rain team ran 225 laps (337.5 miles) to place 5th in the Classic Division.
CoServ is proud to sponsor the Liberty Christian School solar car team. We are confident that the lessons learned from engineering, designing, building, and racing their car will not only be a source of pride for the students and Marko, but will also encourage students to pursue further education in science, engineering, and technology.
The story below was published in the September issue of Texas Co-op Power magazine and can also be seen at http://www.coserv.com/AboutCoServ/Newsroom/tabid/331/xmmid/1009/xmid/35954/xmview/2/EventID/8128607DD2011101217/Default.aspx
These team members spent their summer lugging 36 lb. batteries, tightening nuts and bolts, calibrating sprockets and radioing teammates–all while baking on concrete in 100 degree heat.
At the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, 10 students from the Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, participated in The Solar Car Challenge, held from July 18-21. Sixteen teams from around the country gathered to see how many laps around the 1.5 mile racetrack they could complete in a four-day period. After it was over, the Solar Rain team had run 225 laps (337.5 miles) to place 5th in the Classic Division.
To be able to compete, each driver had to gain certification by completing a training course of slalom curves, stops and turns, and demonstrating safety techniques such as honking the horn when coming up behind another team’s car.
Unlike the racetrack’s usual occupants, these competitors aren’t barreling around the turns at 160 mph, searing tire marks into the pavement, or slamming into walls (and each other). Instead, it is a demonstration of technology, ingenuity and teamwork coming together as these students rely on batteries, solar power, and their self-built cars to drive their laps.
Some similarities do exist. For example, one driver pilots the vehicle while keeping in constant radio contact with the other team members. These students time the laps, calculate the speed, and discuss pit strategy as to when it’s necessary for car or driver adjustments.
Josh Porter, a Liberty Christian junior, started the race at 2:28 p.m. on Monday with teammates, advisors, parents, and CoServ Electric sponsors cheering him on as he started out of pit row.
As he drove off, Ken Marko, team advisor and teacher at Liberty Christian commented, “I am proud of all the kids on the team. They overcame a lot of challenges with perseverance and hard work to get to this point.”
Just in the past four weeks, the team under Marko’s guidance completely removed, reengineered, and rebuilt the front and rear ends of the car to enhance performance and improve braking capability. In addition, they augmented the roof of the car with more solar panels to increase the vehicle’s power threshold.
“The top of the car has two solar sections. It used to be a fixed structure with four solar panels, but now it is a pivoting structure with six panels,” said Marko. The pivot functionality will allow the team to point the solar panels directly at the sun’s light and maximize their effectiveness.
Paul Porter, Josh’s father, said, “The kind of work it takes to build an actual powered solar car requires attentiveness and dedication.” Porter, who alongside his son restored a ’74 Dodge Challenger–which Josh drives to school–added, “It’s a good catalyst for their future.”
When the team made its first pit stop about 30 minutes in, several students jumped over the walls and tinkered with the car under the watchful eye of an event judge–just like in NASCAR races.
“We made some adjustments to the throttle stop, which is essentially a cruise control switch that limits the speed of the car,” said Liberty Christian senior Corey Dodd. As the sun started to come out from cloud cover and shine more directly, the car began moving faster. The students needed to maintain a correctly calibrated steady pace.
This is when mathematics and technology factor in the equation. The driver will do as many laps as he can without killing the battery, but the team must calculate time, speed and distance to choose the right set of sprockets on the car, so that the amount of charge leaving the battery is not more than the amount of energy being pulled in by the solar panels.
Target speed of the car is a leisurely 15-20 mph, but it is capable of performing its own hot rod impersonation at speeds of up to 40-50 mph. As of Wednesday, July 20, the team’s top speed was 54 mph and the best lap time was 1:41.
Wherever the team places in number of laps, they will be proud of their accomplishment. And so will Marko.
“I am pleased for the students who demonstrate their willingness to come out here and dedicate their time and energy to this,” said Marko. “I’ve got 10 kids out here who are just great.”
For more information about CoServ Electric’s support of academic initiatives in our service area, please visit www.coserve.com. For details about the competition, visit http://www.solarcarchallenge.org.
To read Liberty’s story, see the story posted on Liberty’s online news magazine at http://libertylife.libertychristian.com/index.php/2011/07/23/students-learn-and-race-at-solar-car-challenge/