PROGRESS I N PHOTOVOLTAICS: RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS, VOL 2, 73-79 (1994)

Broader EVENT REPORT

Perspectives
World Solar Challenge 1993:
The Trans-Australian Solar
Car Race
Martin A. Green

Centre .for Photofioltaic Deaices and Systems. Uniuersity of New South Wales, Kensington 2033, Ausrrulia

In November 1993, over 50 solar cars left Darwin for the tortuous 3000 kilometre
journey south across Australia to Adelaide. The top cars set a pace difzcult for
conventional vehicles to maintain. The winner, the Honda Dream, averaged 85
kilometres per hour (53 mph), with all top five place getters shattering the previous race
record set by the General Motors ( G M ) Sunvaycer in 1987. The improved performance
was due to better. aerodynamics, motor and power train efzciency and improved output
power .porn the photovoltaic arrays on these cars. This report describes the race with
emphasis on the solar cell and module technology used by the leading cars.

RACE ORIGINS RULES AND REGULATIONS’

A
decade ago, while making the first crossing of
Australia from Perth to Sydney in a solar vehicle,
adventurer and visionary Hans Tholstrup devel-
oped the concept of a trans-Australian solar car race to
publicize the potential of solar energy and to accelerate
the development of associated technologies. From this
came the World Solar Challenge, an event first held in
1987 then in 1990 and, most recently, in November
1993-the race to be described in this report. Amongst
solar car enthusiasts, this has become the major event
on an increasingly busy international solar car racing
calendar.’
Part of the reason has been Tholstrup’s ability to
inspire others with his vision, particularly key individuals
within the automotive industry. The participation of
General Motors and Ford Australia in the 1987 event,’
Honda in the 1990,3 and Honda, Toyota, Nissan and
KIA Motors of Korea in the 19934event has been largely
responsible for the success of the Challenge. These
companies have raised both the stature of the event and
the quality of low energy consumption automotive
engineering. Also important has been the participation
of companies involved in cell manufacture such as Hoxan
and Kyocera (with Daido Hoxan Inc. sponsoring the
1993 event), high school and university teams, and
eccentric and sometimes brilliant individual entries.
Tholstrup’s concept was to keep rules and regulations
to a minimum. There is a limit to the allowed area
of solar collector roughly defined as having to fit into
a box of 4 metres x 2 metres x 1.6 metres, but giving
essentially 8 m 2 of array aperture area, and a battery
capacity which is limited to 5 kW hrs. Both the Sunrayce
1993 and the 1993 World Solar Challenge have similar
regulations here so a more complete description is
available elsewhere.6 Notable differences are that there
are no array cost constraints in the Challenge, or
limitations on battery type. Extra array segments for
reconfiguring the array during charging as described
elsewhere6 also d o not have t o be visible from the outside
of the car. The races themselves differ enormously. In the
Challenge, cars race from 8.00am to 5.00 pm, with
charging allowed either side of this race time, from
sunrise to sunset.
Part of the attraction of the event has been the
beautiful but arid and deserted country of the Australian
outback along the 3000km route along the Stuart
Highway from Darwin to Adelaide (see Figure 1). Cars
stop where they are at 5.00 pm and teams camp by the
roadside. By the end of the event, cars are strewn out
over most of the 3000 km course.

I062-7995/94/010073-7 $08.50 Received 15 November 1994

( 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Revised 17 November 1993
74
stern Australia
Figure 1. Approximate route of the World Solar Chal-
lenge. The shaded areas show the areas of Australia
which are connected by the electricity supply grid
THE RACE
Pre-race favourites were the team from the Engineering
College of Biel University, Switzerland, who dominated
the 1990 race,3 and the Honda R & D team, second in
the 1990 event and determined to take top place in 1993.
These teams were in first and second places on the grid,
with qualifying speeds during stability testing of close to
130 kilometres per hour (k.p.h.). After initially trailing
the Biel car, the Honda car had established a clear lead
by the end of the first day’s racing. Immediately apparent
was the fact that the cars were living up to their pre-race
publicity. The Honda car had travelled 746 kilometres
during the first day with the Biel car only 23 kilometres
behind. Not only had both cars smashed the record for
the longest distance travelled in one day of the race (630
kilometres), but the next two leading cars had also. The
Honda car had averaged over 86 k.p.h. (53 m.p.h.) with
the Biel car averaging over 83 kilometres per hour. Biel,
however, had experienced problems with a wheel cover
during the afternoon of the first day and worked on
modifications during the evening. However, the same
problem recurred during the afternoon of the second
day, allowing Honda to extend its lead to 60 kilometres
by the end of that day. Amazingly, Honda had achieved
its target of reaching Alice Springs, a distance of 1500
kilometres from Darwin, in the first two days of racing.
Biel solved its problem with the wheel cover by cutting
M. A . GREEN
some away during the second evening with some loss of
aerodynamic efficiency.
The third day of the race was decisive. With the wheel
cover problem now under control, Biel set out to catch
Honda. Despite the appearance of clouds in the after-
noon, Biel managed to cover over 740 kilometres during
the third day. However, Honda did even better, slightly
extending its lead. After the first few hours of the
following day, the race was all over. Honda seemed to
have more charge left in its battery and steamed on
steadily during the morning, while Biel battled with
clouds. The Honda team set its sights on reaching
Adelaide in an incredible four days. Despite the less than
perfect weather, it fell only about 30 kilometres short of
its target, finishing the day over 200 kilometres ahead of
Biel.
Honda completed the course early the next morning
to be greeted by the Adelaide citizenry as the car weaved
its way through the city. With only 300 kilometres to
complete during the day, Biel made record time into
Adelaide averaging a speed which would have been
difficult in a conventional vehicle without risking a
speeding ticket.
Third place was a tight battle between Kyocera (the
eventual victor) and the low-budget Australian ‘Aurora
Q1’ team. However, after difficulty early in the race
with overtaking the strongly performing Toyota team,
Waseda University managed t o pass Aurora near
the finishing line, taking fourth position with Aurora
fifth. The five leading cars finished the race on the
fifth day, all smashing the previous record held by
the G M Sunraycer and all averaging over 70 k.p.h. for
the race.
A further eight cars finished the race on the sixth day,
all just outside the Sunraycer record and all averaging
60-65 k.p.h. This group included the four top teams from
the Sunrayce 93 collegiate championship,6 although all
these cars had been upgraded since that race and were
competing in the open category. At the head of this group
of eight was the Toyota team competing in its first race,
which narrowly held off a challenge from the strongly
finishing team from the Northern Territory University,
Darwin. Then followed the four US. teams (California
State Polytechnic a t Pomona; George Washington
University; University of Michigan; and California State
University, Los Angeles) split by two Japanese cars, one
from Be-Pal Magazine and the other from Nissan.
There were two remarkable features about the race.
One was the outstanding improvement in race speed
demonstated by the well-prepared Honda car in partic-
ular (Figure 2), but also by the Biel car. Honda improved
its average speed by over SO%, from 56 k.p.h. in the 1990
race to 85 k.p.h., while Biel improved from 65 k.p.h. to
78 k.p.h. (a 20% improvement). The second feature was
the general improvement in the performance of cars right
through the field.
CHALLENGE 1993
Figure 2. The winning car. the Honda Dream
CAR DESIGN
Although the power generated by the solar array is one
of the most important car design features, aerodynamics,
rolling resistance, weight, motor and battery efficiency
and the efficiency of coupling of power from the array
to the road are also i m p ~ r t a n t .Less
~ tangible aspects
such as tactics, the level of preparation of the car and
the quality of the supporting infrastructure during the
race are also crucial.
The equation generally used to describe the relation-
ship between the more tangible parameters on flat
ground with no wind is given below:
P = MgC,u + pCdAv3” (1)
where P is the power reaching the road, M g is the weight
of the car, C,is the rolling resistance coefficient, p is the
density of air (1.2 kgm-3), C, is the aerodynamic drag
coefficient, A is the frontal area of the car, and v is the
most important parameter, the car velocity.
Both the Biel and Honda cars were very similar in
appearance to the corresponding cars which took first
and second place in the 1990 Challenge respectively.
Both cars had considerably improved the aerodynamic
and rolling resistance coefficients. The efficiency of power
transfer from the array to the road had also been
improved by incorporating the motor in the rear driving
wheel in both cases (a feature also incorporated into the
seventh placed Northern Territory University car). Both
cars had a similar frontal area of about 1.1 m2 and
similar drag coefficients of 0.1. The Honda car weighed
approximately 190 kilograms without driver (drivers
were all weighted to 80 kilograms) while the Biel car was
much lighter at 160 kilograms. This difference was due
to a battery approximately twice as heavy for the Honda
car, apparently chosen for its increased ruggedness over
the battery which gave problems in the 1990 race. The
Kyocera car was similar in these parameters but had less
array power and a higher drag coefficient. The other two
cars to finish on the fifth day, those from Waseda
University and the Australian Aurora team, both had a
large advantage in frontal area being only about 70%
that of the above three cars. The Aurora car had
additionally achieved a lower drag coefficient (less than
75
0.1) by reducing the car length to a minimum by
eliminating the traditional cockpit ‘nose cone’ used by
the other four cars.
A full technical report on the race is to be published
which will discuss these issues more c~mprehensively.~
The remainder of this article will address the photo-
voltaic array and cell technology used on the leading
cars.
CELL A N D ARRAY TECHNOLOGY
One of Hans Tholstrup’s aims in initiating the Challenge
was to accelerate the development of associated technol-
ogies. In this respect the race has been enormously
successful across the spectrum of technologies used on
the cars including the solar array, by providing a market
for advanced cell technology at the prototype stage.
The two leading protagonists took opposing approa-
ches to the physical design of their solar array. Figure 3
shows the general frontal shapes of the two vehicles. The
Honda team followed the GM Sunraycer approach by
designing a car with a highly arched back to allow a
large collecting area for the cells. The Biel car used a flat,
essentially horizontal array. Not only were the shapes of
the arrays very different but so were the cells used in
them. The Honda car used ‘state-of-the-art’ cells manu-
factured by the SunPower Corporation, based on the
Stanford University rear point contact design of Figure
4(a). Nominal efficiency was 21% for the 17.8 cm2
cells only 160 pm thick. (An independently confirmed
efficiency of 21.3%has been recently measured at Sandia
National Laboratories for a cell of the same design as
used in the array). Due to the tapering geometry of the
Honda array, high cell packing density was difficult to
achieve, although a creditable 94% packing density was
achieved in this particular array. SunPower seems to
have solved the UV (ultraviolet) stability problem
reported by Stanford for these cells,’ possibly by the use
of a UV absorbing Ti02 antireflection coating and,
judging from the bright blue cell colour, by reflecting the
harmful blue wavelengths. To encapsulate the cells,
Honda had devised the laminating approach of Figure
5(a). The purpose of the corrugated cover was to reduce
76 M . A . GREEN

Figure 3. Approximate frontal shapes of the Honda and Biel cars

rear mat
(a)

sunlight
I
firtger "ipverted" pyramids

Figure 5. (a) Laminate used for the Honda array with

reaicontact oide
(b)
Figure 4. (a) The Stanford University rear point contact
cell on which SunPower cells are based (illumination
from below in this drawing; (b) the UNSW PERL cell
structure (Passivated Emitter, Rear Locally-diffused)
the corrugated acrylic cover used for control of reflection
of obliquely incident rays; (b) the 'brickwork' shingle
used in the Biel modules
the reflection of obliquely incident sunlight. Dust
accumulation apparent on the module undoubtedly
reduced these optical benefits. Overall array efficiency is
estimated t o have approached 20%.
The Biel car also had an outstanding array. It
demonstrated the progress made with Czochralski (CZ)
CHALLENGE 1993
back contact
(4
Figure 6. (a) UNSW PESC cell (Passivated Emitter
Solar Cell); (b) UNSW laser grooved (buried contact)
solar cell
grown silicon, which generally gives lower cell efficiency
but is more suited for both space cells and low cost
terrestrial cells. The thin (230 pm thick), high perform-
ance CZ silicon cells used on the Biel array were
fabricated by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA). Cell struc-
ture is described as being similar to the University of
New South Wales (UNSW) PERT cell.’ This is, in turn,
similar to the PERL cell of Figure 4(b) but with the
whole rear surface diffused p-type, rather than just locally
in the contact areas. Cell efficiency lay in the 19-19.5%
range with two cells of 19.4% efficiency independently
measured at the Fraunhofer Institute, an internationally
recognized cell test centre. The 23.4 cm2 cells were
designed for use in the shingle design shown in Figure
5(b), where the cell layout resembles brickwork. Upon
shingling, the effective efficiency of the shingled cells
increased since the relatively large busbar area was
77
thereby obscured. Reflection from the top resin layer
applied over the cells would be expected to almost offset
this gain. By using a planar array, mismatch losses
throughout the array were minimized, giving a final array
efficiency over 19%, even higher than that of the original
cells. Hence, due to the extremely high packing density
of the cells in the array and the small mismatch loss, the
final array efficiency was not substantially lower than
that on the Honda car despite the marked difference in
starting cell efficiency.
Some of the modules in the Biel array showed a matt
texture. DASA had originally intended to texture the top
resin on all modules supplied but due to problems with
process control and limited time for final assembly, this
idea was abandoned. A small number of modules where
the texturing had been partially successful were included
in the finalarray. The- undisclosed texturing processes
(applied to the resin before hardening) would have
allowed the array to produce additional output. An
experimental textured module and a non-textured
control were carried on a support vehicle and the output
compared over the race interval. The textured panel gave
approximately 6% additional energy, due mainly to
superior performance for obliquely incident light.’
Two of the top cars (Kyocera and Toyota) used
Kyocera silicon cells fabricated with a photolithographic
process. Kyocera recently had 19.4% cell efficiency
independently confirmed at the Japan Quality Assurance
Organization, another internationally recognized cell test
centre. The cell structure used for the latter is similar to
the UNSW PESC cell of Figure 6(a), the first silicon cell
to demonstrate 20% efficiency in 1985, but with random
texturing of the cell surface. The stated efficiency of 18.5%
for the cells on the car is therefore feasible. Cell packing
density, however, was relatively low on both cars and no
steps appear to have been taken to reduce reflection from
the covering layer.
Two of the top cars used standard terrestrial screen
printed silicon cells. Waseda University used screen-
printed cells fabricated on the Sharp terrestrial cell
production line. These were hand-selected, representing
the peak of this particular production approach, possibly
corresponding to an efficiency of around 15%. The tenth
placed car entered by Be-Pal Magazine used similar cells
produced by Showa Shell. Both these teams compensated
for the lower cell performance by improved reflection
control, as subsequently discussed. The Nissan car also
used Japanese cells, this time a fairly standard textured
silicon cell fabricated on the Sharp space cell production
line with an estimated efficiency of around 17%.
However, by far the largest numbers of cars finishing
on the first two days were powered by the type of silicon
laser grooved cell shown in Figure 6(b). Two had cells
fabricated on a pilot production line at UNSW, while
another three had low cost cells fabricated by UNSW
licensee, BP Solar, as did also the fourteenth place
78 M . A . GREEN

Table I. Summary of finishers on fifth and sixth day of racing emphasizing cell and array parameters

Place Team Country Time Av. Speed Cell Array Array Features
(hr:min) (km/hour) Effic.” Power“

Day 5 Finishers
1 Honda R & D Japan 35:38 84.6 21% 1550W -high efficiency SunPower cells
--corrugated cover
2 Eng. College of Biel Switzerland 38:30 78.3 19.2% 1485 W -Deutsche Aerospace cells
-high CZ cell efficiency
d e n s e , shingled cells
3 Kyocera Corp. Japan 42:35 70.8 18.5% 1300W --Kyocera photolithographic cells
4 WasedaUni Japan 42:50 70.3 15% 1150W -selected Sharp terrestrial cells
d e n s e , shingled cells
-textured cover layer
5 Aurora Vehicles Assoc. Australia 42:59 70.I 18.8% 1350Wb -UNSW laser grooved cells
(18-19%) plus some PERL cells
(20-21%)
-2D shingle
-laminar flow over array

Day 6 Finishers
6 Toyota Motor Corp. Japan 46:34 64.7 18.5% 1300W’ -Kyocera photolithographic cells
7 Northern Territory Uni Australia 46:50 64.4 18.5% 1300W -UNSW laser grooved cells
(17-18% & 18-19% categories)
-tilting panel
8 Cal-Poly Uni Pomona USA 47:21 63.6 17% 1600Wd -BP Solar laser grooved cells
plus Si & GaAs space cells
-2 seater, large array
9 George Washington Uni USA 47:46 63.1 16% ll00W -BP laser grooved cells
10 Be-Pal Magazine Japan 48:38 62.0 15% 1050W -Showa Shell terrestrial cells
-patterned cover
11 Uni of Michigan USA 49:07 61.3 18% 1300W‘ -19% UNSW & 16% BP laser
grooved cells
- s o m e covers MgF coated
12 Nissan Motor Co. Japan 50:21 59.8 17% 1250W -Sharp space cells
13 Cal State Uni LA USA 50:37 59.5 16% 960W -BP laser grooved cells

‘Cell and array efficiency under standard test conditions (1 kW m-’, Air Mass 1.5 spectrum, 2s”C cell temperature) estimated by author based on
cell design, packing density, vehicle performance and stated power output on various days during race, as appropriate.
Actual power estimated as only 1200 watts under standard test conditions due to encapsulation problems.
‘Actual array output may have been lower.
50% more array area since a 2 seater entry.
@Actual power estimted as below loo0 W under standard test conditions possibly due to use of an interconnect tab inconsistent with cell design.

Stanford University car. A seventh team of these top
fourteen had a combination of UNSW and BP Solar
laser grooved cells. As might be expected, the cars with
the UNSW pilot line cells performed better than those
with the lower cost commercial cells. UNSW offered laser
grooved ‘Green’cells for the race in the 17-18%, 18-19%
and 19-20% categories, together with higher efficiency
microelectronics based PERL cells of Figure 5(b), with
efficiencies in the 20-21% and 21-22% categories.
Unfortunately for all involved, no cars used cells in the
highest category of either type. The fifth placed Aurora
team had approximately 85% of the car covered with
UNSW laser grooved cells primarily from the 18-19%
category. The seventh placed car from the Northern
Territory University used laser grooved cells primarily
from the 17-18% and 18-19% categories.
The latter car reported an instantaneous peak of over
1800 watts from this array as the sun came out between
clouds, with 1600 watts generated over more sustained
periods. The estimated rating of the array under standard
test conditions is 1300 watts. The power advantage of
this car became apparent in the final days of the race as,
with refinement of the car during racing, it powered
through the field from twelfth place to its final seventh
position.
Apart from the on-going development of the shingling
approach first introduced to the race by Biel in the 1990
Challenge, the other feature seen on the arrays in the
CHALLENGE 1993
present race was the attention applied to reflection
control for the protective surface layer covering the cells.
As already mentioned, both Honda and Biel had paid
attention to this aspect. Probably the most successful
effort was that of Waseda University. By impressing a
cloth mat upon the surface of the unset resin and then
peeling off, the uppermost layer of this array had a
regular pattern of protrusions on a square grid of 0.2 mm
pitch. Although this was reported to give nearly identical
performance to an untextured surface finish for a
perpendicularly incident light, the textured surface gave
a 15% advantage for light at 60" to the perpendicular.
The cells in this array were also shingled giving
very creditable output from the relatively modest cell
quality employed. A similar technique producing regular
dimples on the surface of the overlayer had been used
by the Be-Pal team, which also performed extremely well
for the quality of cell employed. Neither scheme seemed
to cause dust accumulation, as noted for the Honda car.
The University of Michigan employed standard space
cell technology for its array construction with thin glass
coverslides used to protect the cell. In some sections of
the array, these were magnesium fluoride coated to
reduce reflection.
A summary of the performance of the top finishers
emphasizing the cell and array parameters is shown in
Table I.
CONCLUSIONS
The overriding impression from the 1993 Challenge was
the outstanding performance of the two leading cars,
particularly the Honda car. It covered the 3000 km
distance at a speed which made it very difficult for
conventional vehicles to maintain contact. The other
notable feature was the marked improvement in perform-
ance across the whole field with five of the teams
completely shattering the previous race record.
Technically, such solar car races provide a market for
high performance cells which is accelerating their
development. They also generate a broad range of new
ideas regarding the best way to use these cells in a
module. Furthermore, they provide a valuable linkage
between the photovoltaic and automotive technological
communities which might accelerate the use of photo-
voltaics, not only for housekeeping and cooling functions
79
on standard automobiles, but also as battery range
extenders on electric vehicles.
The educational value of the race is also significant,
not only for the universities and high schools entering
teams into the event, but also for the general public
whose interst in the event seems to be rapidly increasing.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the many individuals who
have provided information for this report, particularly
Takahiro Iwata and colleagues of the Honda R & D
team, Hans Gochermann, K. D. Rasch and H. Schmidt
of Deutsche Aerospace, and Anthony Schinckel. It is to
be noted that the report was prepared within a few days
of the end of the race in order to meet publishing
deadlines. The author apologizes for any inaccuracies
which may have occurred as a result.
REFERENCES
1. R. King, M. King and J. Ward Phillips, Sunracing,
Human Resource Development Press, Amherst,
Massachusetts, 1993.
2. W. Tuckey, Sunraycer, Chevron Publishing Group,
Hornsby, Australia, 1989.
3. C. R. Kyle, Racing with the sun: The 1990 world solar
challenge, Engineering Society for Advancing Mobil-
ity: Land, Sea, Air and Space, SAE Order No. R-1 1 1,
October, 1991.
4. For more information about the availability of this
Technical Report, contact Energy Promotions, 1074
Pacific Highway, Pymble, Australia. 2073. (FAX:
+ 61-2-449-8767).
5. World Solar Challenge 1993: Regulations, Energy
Promotions, Pymble, Australia, 1992. '
6. P. A. Basore, 'Sunrayce 93: Collegiate competition
introduces American public to photovoltaics', Progr.
Photovolt., 1, 311-318, (1993).
7. P. E. Gruenbaum, J. Y. Gan, R. R. King and R. M.
Swanson, 'Stable Passivations for High-Efficiency
Silicon Solar Cells', Conference Record, 2lst 1EEE
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Kissimee,
Florida, May, 1990, pp. 317-322.
8. K. D. Rasch and H. Schmidt, Private Communication,
November, 1993.
9. H. Gochermann, Private Communication, 1993.