News

Eleventh Annual Junior Solar Sprint

May 10, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

The eleventh annual Junior Solar Sprint (Golden, CO) will take place on Saturday, May 12, 2001. Forty-two teams of middle school students from across Colorado will race model solar energy-powered cars. The event is sponsored by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, Golden, CO), Kaiser-Hill (Golden, CO), Midwest Research Institute (Kansas City, MO), Battelle (Columbus, OH) and Bechtel (San Francisco, CA).

Each team starts with a motor and a silicon solar cell. Using any other materials, competitors design and build vehicles no larger than 12" wide, 24" long and 12" high. The 20m race is a double-elimination competition with awards going out to the five fastest cars. Five design awards also will be given out for technology, craftsmanship and innovation. The students will compete from 11am to 2pm at NREL's Solar Energy Research Facility. The event is open to the public.