Dear Solar Guy,

        I was in El Paso on Nov. 17 and talked to some students who were
exhibiting some solar cars they had built and claimed to have raced !  Is
this for real  ?  By this I mean did they really build them, do they
actually run, and if so is there any hope in hell that anyone in their
right mind may ever have use for one ?   

 I. M. Pessimo.

-----------------------------------------

Dear I.M.,

        I can answer the first two questions absolutely and give my
opinion on the last.  The students you talked to did in fact design and build
those cars from the ground up.  Some of the critical components (i.e. the solar
PV cells) were purchased and integrated into the car, but otherwise most
of each car was fabricated by the team.  One group (Winston School) is a high
school team.  The other three are college teams.  The Winston team
participated in the Tour de Sol and organized a "Challenge" race for high
school teams in Dallas this past August.  The Prairie View team
participated in the recent Sunrayce '95 from Indianapolis to Denver
(Golden), about 1000 miles this past June.  The teams from New Mexico Tech
and UT Austin are getting ready for a future race this next year.  So yes,
they designed and built them and two of them have raced and many other
cars have participated in long distance cross-country race events.

        As to the future of solar cars, I believe there certainly is.
Consider that in several races over the past 5 or so years purely solar
powered cars have been able to make 150 miles or so per day, day after
day. Since it is likely that practical designs will be heavier (double ?) and
would have much less cell area (maybe 1/3), then ranges may be nearer 25
miles (150 divided by 2, divided by 3).  However there are many
applications (commute vehicles) which cover less than 25 miles per day.
However, there are other situations where solar-assisted cars may find
application such as hybrid vehicles, where range is achieved by a small
conventional engine and economy by solar assist.    

The Solar Guy.