The World Solar Challenge is a 3010 km race from Darwin in the North to Adelaide in the South of the Australian continent. The Nuon Solar Team will start this exhausting journey on September 25th. The team defends the double title from the previous two Dutch solar cars, Nuna and Nuna 2. They have won the 2001 and 2003 editions. During the following 4 days, we will put Nuna 3 to the extreme to complete the Dutch Solarchampion trilogy!

The track

The race is conducted on the Stuart Highway, the public road between Darwin and Adelaide. Not just the participating teams with their convoy will use this road. Regular transport as well as the notorious road trains will cross our way. This implies that all teams have to live up to the traffic rules and the actual speedlimits.

The participants travel between 8am and 5 pm. An observer from the World Solar Challenge joins the team to survey all actions. At 5pm we have to make camp at the location we have reached. The track includes seven compulsory checkpoints where all teams have to make a half hour stop.

The Solarcars

Since we are driving on a public road, the Nuna 3 needs to be subjected to an APK-inspection. The brakes, stability, manoeuvrability and the line of sight of the pilot need to be examined. When the solar car meets these criteria, the team gets a temporary license.

The convoy

The Nuna 3 is escorted by a convoy. The solar car is guided by three cars and followed by the mission control and support vehicles. The Mission Control is, besides the Nuna 3, the most important car in the convoy. All data from the Nuna 3 are transmitted by a wireless network to this car. Based on this information and other factors like the weather situation, a strategic program determines the most efficient driving speed.

The pilots

According to the regulations of the World Solar Challenge, we can inscribe a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 pilots. Four of our teammembers will be registered as pilot to make sure that we can replace them at any time by someone that is fit and focused. All drivers have to be in possession of an international driving licence and have at least 10 hours of driving experience in the Nuna 3.

The driver might stay for more than 5 hours in the solar car, while temperatures may exceed 50 degrees. It is of primar importance that the drivers are in good shape and very alert during the race.

Other participants

35 teams from over the world are joining the World Solar Challenge. The most prominent competition comes from the United States, Australia, Japan and other European countries. In the previous World Solar Challenge the Aurora from RMIT (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) finished as runner up and the solar car from MIT (Massachusets Institute of Technology) ended third. These teams will also join the next World Solar Challenge 2005.