A Vision for a Greener Tomorrow

The RVCE solar car team envisions building indigenous, efficient solar car incorporating state-of-the-art technologies for a greener tomorrow

As the talks about the energy crisis increasingly tops the news, the focus of energy shifts more and more towards greener and sustainable technologies. Globally, the major consumers of energy are the industrial sector and the transportation sector.  And to beat this challenge of depleting natural resources and tackle the rising global energy crisis we, the RVCE SOLAR CAR TEAM, design and build solar electric vehicles. Our Motto is to spread the word and encourage more and more individuals to use solar energy and cut down further degradation of the environment.

The Team envisions building indigenous, efficient solar car incorporating state-of-the-art technologies. We also focus on being at-par with other countries and showcase India’s capabilities on the same platform as the other technologically advanced countries like the US, Germany, Japan etc. For us, the goal is not just to create a technological innovation but also drive the world towards the renewable energy sources. By raising awareness amongst the public we seek to encourage the younger generation for better and greener tomorrow.

 Our prime event is the prestigious Bridgestone World Solar Challenge; where-in we will be up against some of the reputed universities across the globe. We also take pride to be called the only Indian team in the WSC 2015.World Solar Challenge is a biennial event held in Australia. The race challenges the teams to cover 3,022 kilometres (Darwin to Adelaide) in 7 days running solely the solar energy. Top universities like MIT, Stanford, Michigan, Tokai and many more compete here thereby, finishing the race is in itself is a huge accomplishment.

Our team consists of about 30 engineers-to-be from various branches of engineering all hailing from RV College of Engineering working with utmost passion towards a common goal. The team is mainly divided into 4 divisions’ viz. the mechanical subdivision, the electronics subdivision, the sponsorship and media team, and the logistics team. The efforts and skilful co-ordination of all these sub-teams sails our dream and our car to Australia smoothly.

Our first prototype Soleblaze was a result of high amounts of dedication, perseverance and innovation of the founding batch and started as an idea of like-minded and motivated people. We are currently working on our second prototype which will compete in the world solar challenge 2017. The design is aerodynamic and the body is made of carbon fibre and the car uses an Ackermann steering with hydraulic and regenerative braking system. We use mono-crystalline silicon solar cells placed over an area of 4sq meter and an MPPT which ensures the solar cells always outputs a maximum power.  This energy from the panels is stored in the (Li-Ion) battery before relaying the power to the in-hub motor that propels the car forward. Our  telemetry gathers all the data and stores it to in the cloud to help us to remotely assess the car’s performance and also to device in the race strategies.

For an entirely student-run project to build a car costing INR 1 crore is not an easy task. Being a new and less-known team, collaborating with companies was a real challenge. Our sponsorship team have been an absolute boon in this regard. We are delighted to have various reputed companies sponsor us with cash and kind. We are proud to have Sunpower, Wipro and IBM as our Core Sponsors. We are also grateful to have HHV Solar, Mitsubishi Rayon Chemical, Rhinokore, Dynamatics, Bosch, Honeywell Technologies are among the many companies on board with us. We also have Microsoft helping us out with the modelling of parameters in the telemetry system on board with us.

Keeping in mind all the technical aspects, we dream of making passenger solar cars, a reality. We stand for an environmentally friendly revolution in the transportation sector and we ardently stand behind the Earthian movement. Stand by us and support us if you believe solar technology is the key for a better and a greener tomorrow. Thereby, on this World Solar Energy we’d like to be a part of the change we believe in by doing our bit. Join our team in this moment to save the world in every way we can.

Author: Krutika Parappa and Pallavi Surana