JOHANNESBURG. – The seventh Sasol Solar Challenge (SSC) will be held in September next year, once again challenging top young engineers from across the world to drive their fuelless, cutting-edge cars across 2 500 km of South Africa’s public roads.
The SSC passes through the Northern Cape for the first time in eight years, and Bothaville, Kimberley, Bloemhof, Uitenhage, Kirkwood, Plettenberg Bay and Franschhoek have been added to the route for the first time. Competitors in 2020 will have to think on their feet on ‘blind’ days, when information regarding the route is withheld until the night before, forcing teams to strategise on the go. Experienced teams usually travel the route several times in advance to prepare for all challenges, but will now need to plan for the element of surprise. The loops en route, which allow teams to rack up distance and get a lead on competitors, will also be much shorter in 2020. Spectators will have even better opportunities to see the carefully
co-ordinated, Formula 1-style pit stops in action, and the less experienced teams will have more time to troubleshoot as they stop in with their support team more often.
Teams from across the globe develop pioneering technology for solar racing events. The Sasol Solar Challenge, held every second year since 2008, is a popular testing ground for the world’s leading teams to push new equipment to the limit. Widely regarded as the most difficult of more than a dozen such events globally, the baking sun, violent storms, high winds, changing road surfaces and a record drop in altitude of nearly 2000 m along the SA
route allow teams to gather invaluable data.
“The 2020 Sasol Solar Challenge is once again an opportunity for our team to test and understand new technology we’ve developed,” says Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT) team leader Johannes de Vries. The University’s car, Sun Chaser 3, topped the South African leader board
with 2 397 km in 2018.
Seven South African teams have entered so far. Participants can also look forward to a new route, changes in format, and a renewed title sponsor
Other prarticipants include Mpumalanga SolaFlairs and the University of the Free State, and returning teams from the Cape Peninsula University
of Technology, Central University of Technology in the Free State, North West University, TUT, and the University of Johannesburg. South Africa will also host newcomers, Team Solaris from Turkey and the Alfaisal Boeing Solar Car Project team from Saudi Arabia. Sasol is the title sponsor for the fourth year running, demonstrating commitment to furthering science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education and inspiring learners to pursue technical careers. “We have seen this event grow from strength to strength over the last decade, and are proud to renew our sponsorship. The Sasol Solar Challenge brings maths and engineering to life in the eyes of the thousands of school children it reaches on its route, inspiring
them in ways that textbooks simply can’t,” said Sasol’s Group Brand Marketing Manager, Nozipho Mbatha. The event typically draws more than 20 partners and sponsors, and the 2020 event is proud to confirm support from Sun International, C-Track and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).