SOLAR CAR CHALLENGE
Vision for 2012-2014
The Solar Car Challenge has 112 on-going high school solar car projects
located in twenty-eight states. These teams are in the process of
designing, engineering, and building roadworthy solar cars in anticipation of
an upcoming solar racing event. The Challenge’s Solar Education
Program provides support for schools seeking to be a part of this top-level
engineering project.
The Solar Car Challenge’s Education Program has worked effectively for
the last eighteen national events, but with more teams seeking admission
to the project, the Solar Car Challenge Foundation has decided to address
growth by the development of regional events leading up to a national Solar
Car Challenge.
The Solar Car Challenge Foundation will establish a two year pilot project
in Texas to develop a “model” for encouraging participation in the program,
and to support participating Texas schools with education materials and onsite visits. Beginning in the Spring of 2012, the Challenge will reach out to
new schools in Texas to either enter or observe the program in anticipation
of the 2012 closed-track race at the Texas Motor Speedway.
This model will be sharpened and focused over two twelve-month
education cycles, and finalized in the Spring of 2014 as our formal growth
model. The first regional event will take place in the Northeast in 2015
leading up to a national high school Solar Car Challenge in 2016.
The immediate goal of this “model” is to create new high school solar car
teams in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, Tyler-Kilgore, and the
“Texas Valley” by the end of 2014.