Pictures: Cars Capture Solar Energy in Chilean Desert

A View of the Future

Photograph by Felipe Trueba, European Pressphoto Agency  

A driver peers over the solar-paneled hood of Antakari's car before the starting signal of stage two in Antofagasta. The team named its car Intikalpa, which translates roughly to "solar energy" in the Quechua language. Winners were identified based on average speed and distance traveled independently—without towing—in each of the race's three stages. The prize for first place was 15 million pesos (about $29,000 or 22,300 euros).

A second Chilean team, Los Andes Solar, took the top prize ($9,000 or about 6,700 euros) in the hybrid category with a model named Condor 1, which averaged 60 km/h (37 mph).

The 11 teams from Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Chile qualified out of an initial pool of 30 teams. Two raced in the high-stakes all-solar category, while the rest participated in La Ruta Solar, a category for three-wheeled hybrids using solar power and pedal-based propulsion.

(Related: "Google's Solar Energy Gambit")

Published December 20, 2011

Four Wheels, Free Fuel

Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images  

An entry in the hybrid category from Argentina races through Calama during the final stage of the three-day race. Called La Ruta Solar, the hybrid portion of the Atacama Solar Challenge limited spending to $7,000.

Solar car competitions have been around for decades. Australia has hosted the 3,000-kilometer (1,864-mile) World Solar Challenge every two years since 1983. In October, the winning team from Japan's Tokai University completed the cross-continent course in less than 33 hours with an average speed of 91.54 km/h (56.9 mph).

On the other side of the globe, the race now known as the American Solar Challenge got its start in 1990 when the reigning World Solar champ, General Motors, organized an 11-day, 1,600-mile (2,575-kilometer) solar car competition from Disney World in Florida to GM's Technical Center outside Detroit. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory hosts the Junior Solar Sprint/Hydrogen Fuel Cell (JSS/HFC) Car Competition for middle school students.

And solar cars are among the entries in the annual Shell Eco-Marathon student competitions in the United States, Europe, and Asia, where the goal is to produce the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. The results in that competition underscore the efficiency advantage of electric motors, especially coupled with fuel from the sun. The winning solar entry in the Shell competition in Houston last spring achieved mileage of 90 miles per kilowatt-hour. Because one gallon (3.79 liters) of gasoline has energy equivalent to 33.7 kilowatt-hours, that means the result was equivalent to fuel economy of 3,033 mpg (1,290 km/l).

(Related: "Drexel Students Take on the Solar Car Challenge" and "Pictures: Building the Perfect Solar Car")

Published December 20, 2011

Energy From "Invincible Sun"

Photograph courtesy Ricardo Herrera  

A driver practices behind the wheel of a hybrid model built by Chile's Sol Invictus team, which finished the race in eighth place ahead of Inti Invictus of Ecuador's Escuela Politecnica del Litoral. The team moniker references the Roman sun god, "invincible sun."

As early as 1958 a scientist with International Rectifier named Charles Alexander Escoffery began outfitting a 1912 Baker electric coupe with a rooftop rack of solar cells to promote the company's photovoltaic technology—and create the world's first solar car. Displayed in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City in 1960, the system harvested enough energy from the sun for only up to an hour of travel.

(Related: "Solar Decathalon Students Race to Renew Home Energy")

Published December 20, 2011

Preparing for Take-Off

Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images

The jet-like profile of Universidad de Chile's Eolian 2 appears in Calama during the second stage of the Atacama Solar Challenge.

History is still in the making when it comes to solar powered cars, as teams design faster models capable of higher speeds. Indeed, several vehicles from the Atacama race look like space-age machines the Jetsons might drive. Others, rolling on bicycle tires sheltered under square roofs, resemble squashed surreys—with the addition of advanced photovoltaics to capture energy from the blazing sun in the driest place on earth.

In March, Fundacion Chile, a non-profit, government-backed technology incubator, held a competition for gear to help Chilean teams build cars for the race. The kits, awarded to four teams, included an electric motor, lithium ion batteries, and solar panels.

(Related: "Shining Light on the Cost of Solar")

Published December 20, 2011

Waiting for a Fill-Up

Photograph by Felipe Trueba, European Pressphoto Agency

No need to worry about finding a gas station on these desolate roads. This car fuels up on sunshine while members of Universidad de Chile's team ready Eolian 2 for stage two of the Atacama Solar Challenge in Antofagasta.

The car's name references eolian processes, through which winds erode, transport, and deposit materials to shape the earth's surface—especially in arid environments.

The first version of the Eolian car competed in 2007 at the World Solar Challenge in Australia. At this year's edition of the race, the second-generation sleek design was the only entry from a Latin American country. Although Eolian 2 placed 22nd in a field of 37 in the Outback, the car finished second in the Atacama Desert.

(Related: "Beating the White House to the Solar Punch")

Published December 20, 2011

Biting Into Fuel Demand

Photograph by Felipe Trueba, European Pressphoto Agency

A three-wheeled model from Chile's Sol Invictus team competes in the final stage of the Atacama Solar Challenge driving a car named Barracuda. The car was named for its resemblance to the fearsome fish known for its toothy under bite.

(Related: "Pictures: Kickoff Time for Green Stadiums")

(Related: "Chile Wind Farm Faces Turbulence Over Whales")

Published December 20, 2011

Lightweight and Light-Powered

Photograph by Martin Bernetti, AFP/Getty Images

The froglike Sol Caribe model from Puerto Rico takes part in the Atacama Solar Challenge in Calama during the final stage of the tour. Built by undergraduate engineering students at the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico within a $3,000 budget, the car weighed 150 kilograms (about 330 pounds) and won the award for best city car design.

According to the university, Sol Caribe's rooftop solar panels were designed to provide 80 percent of energy required to drive the car. The driver uses pedals and an 18-speed transmission to provide the remaining 20 percent. Together, human and solar power affords a top speed of 38 miles per hour.

Published December 20, 2011