Solar boat racing at Scienceworks.
Image: Paul Wellington
Source: Paul Wellington
Teams representing 34 schools from every Australian State and Territory raced their model solar boats and cars at Scienceworks last weekend.
Coordinated by Monash University and sponsored by Jaycar Electronics, the National Model Solar Vehicle Challenge saw over 65 model cars and boats race each other and Melbourne’s weather to see who would be the fastest under the sun.
Fortunately the predicted rain held off, allowing two full days of nail-biting racing. Tasmanian school Hobart College took the fastest car prize in a narrow victory over Victoria’s Genazzano FCJ College. The final race between these two teams was clinched by a margin of just 0.01 seconds.
In the boating competition, New South Wales took out the Senior Division for the fastest boat. Queensland won the intermediate division and Victoria’s Mt Waverly Primary School won the junior competition.
Scienceworks also played host to the Victorian Model Solar Vehicle Challenge finals in mid-October.
Over 200 solar powered vehicles took part in the two day competition, as students pitted their skills against schools from across the state.
Boasting some of the finest achievements in technology and science of Victorian school children, the event encourages young people to explore the potential of solar energy, though the design, building and testing of working models powered by the sun.
The first Victorian Model Solar Car Challenge was hosted at the Scienceworks site in 1990. It was the first race in the world for model solar cars to be run in sunlight.