Solar Team Twente in their 10th Edition

Imagine nineteen students with one common goal: building the most efficient solar vehicle of the world. The students of Solar Team Twente develop a new solar car from scratch within only one year. This car is designed to drive more than 3.000 kilometers by only using solar energy. Sounds crazy? It is, but student team Solar Team Twente makes the impossible possible. By competing in several solar races around the world, the team challenges the limits of existing technology every year. In October 2023 the team will participate in the unique and extremely challenging Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, driving from Darwin to Adelaide through the outback in Australia.

Solar Team Twente entails passion for innovation, passion for efficient mobility, and passion to inspire others. With over 15 years of experience and a strong network of companies and former team members, they prepare for the races like others would for the Olympics. A new team starts every 2 years in September, participates in the iLumen European Solar Challenge in Belgium in the same month and then works hard for one year to build the most efficient solar car of the world. The car is able to drive across the Australian continent only powered by solar energy, which means that efficiency is key. Several aspects of the car are affecting the efficiency, so they must be designed well. Examples are the aerodynamic shape, the performance of the battery and of course the efficiency of the solar panel. Within this interdisciplinary team, the four sub-teams must work closely to realise a reliable and efficient solar car.

The solar team is located in Enschede, the Netherlands. It is part of the University of Twente, Saxion University of Applied Sciences and ROC van Twente. Solar Team Twente is one of the biggest student teams of the Netherlands. It unites more than 150 companies in and outside the country to build the most efficient solar car of the world together with the team. Team members pause their studies for one and a half years to show what one can achieve in a short period of time. Their goal is to inspire others to contribute to a more sustainable society themselves. Together, we make a difference!

Preparing for the 2023 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge

After their victory at the Moroccan Solar Challenge with their ninth solar car RED Horizon, the tenth team started with a clear goal in mind: repeating this accomplishment on Australian soil. Recently, they unveiled the design of their contender: RED X. It features a further optimized ‘monohull’ or ‘bullet’ shape, with a lot of aerodynamical improvements to be found in the details. Designing a fully optimized solar cars brings many challenges with a lot of multidisciplinary dilemmas. For example, one of the sub-teams would very much like to have the largest possible surface for the solar panel. This large surface generates a lot of income from the sun and therefore energy to power the solar car. On the other hand, other team members are concerned with aerodynamic design to ensure that the shape is as efficient as possible and no unnecessary energy is wasted, a large panel size actually makes it more difficult for them to achieve their goal. In RED X, all these dilemmas have been carefully considered and included in the final design.

What the name RED X means for the team was explained by team manager Kirsten Bouwman: “This is of course the tenth edition of Solar Team Twente, the tenth time that a team of motivated students is committed to innovating in the field of sustainable mobility. X also symbolizes the four disciplines within our team that, despite all the challenges, come together to a central point. Everything presented today by the team is with our goal in mind. To be the first to cross the finish line with the tenth solar car of Solar Team Twente in the tenth month of the year. We are going to do all of it with RED X.”

The electronic subteam of Solar Team Twente has the unique feature that all of the electronic systems are developed in-house. The teams systems bear woman’s names such as Daphne and Jasmine. This last lady, the self-developed motor controller, played a major role in the victory during Solar Challenge Morocco. A motor controller is a standard part of a passenger car and ensures that the current flows properly through the motor. The electric motor provides the rotating force that moves the car forward at the correct speed.

Partnering Eurocircuits

With many systems in the car, a massive number of PCB’s is produced every edition as every component endures a design phase with one or more test prints, followed by a production phase where main and spare parts are assembled. All systems are tested extensively before they are labelled ‘race-worthy’. With only one year to develop every detail of the car, a fast development method is crucial for these innovations. Eurocircuits has been a reliable source of PCBs for multiple editions, enabling fast iterations and reliable prints.

A solar car mainly consists of four sections: the solar panel, the drivetrain, the battery and low-voltage. One of the many PCB’s integrated in the car are the Voltage Monitors (VM’s). They are used in the battery and measure the voltages and temperature of the battery cells to ensure safe usage. The quality of these PCB’s is very important, since it plays a big role in the safety of the battery.

Solar Team Twente wants to thank Eurocircuits for providing us with such high-quality and reliable products to push for a reliable yet high-performance solar car.