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Solar Sprint
Excitement at the Start
Solar Sprint Race Day
Saturday May 29, 2010
Check-In registration and Technical Inspection from 9:30 to 10:30 AM
Festivities start shortly after 10:30 AM
Racing is expected to be over somewhere between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM.
Jack Donohue Public School
101 Penrith Street
Kanata, Ontario
There is NO CLOUD / RAIN DATE. We will use batteries and run indoors
in poor weather.
Easy 4-step registration:
Register your school today!
Downloads:
Sponsored by TD Friends of
the Environment Foundation
 Teams of students from grades 6, 7 and 8
will design, build and race small solar powered cars. - Cars will race in pairs along guide wires which pass through eyelets
attached to the cars.
- Registration fee for this contest is $50 for the first car and $10 for
each subsequent car. Parts are extra but a complete kit is only $50. Save and
reuse your parts year-after-year so your costs are spread out over many
years.
- A full Solar Sprint Kit includes: a solar panel, a motor with wires, a
package that includes a motor mounting bracket with screws and gears for the
motor shaft (3 sizes), an Accessory bag (2 shafts, 4 wheels/tires, and 2 spur
gear sizes), a momentary push button switch, a 3-way rocker switch, 6 wires
with alligator clips (jumper leads), battery holder with wires and several (at
least 6) screw eyes (eyelets).
- Teams build the chassis from materials of their choosing, powered by the
supplied solar panel and motor. While commercially bought parts may be used,
the car chassis and body must not be made from a kit. The car must be obviously
"home-made". Excellent information on building and designing a solar
powered car is listed in the Solar Sprint Manuals that you can download (see
the links above) and searching the web for "Junior Solar Sprint".
- School teams are encouraged to investigate and build more than one design.
Extra components may be ordered at any time from the Solar Sprint organizers of
Earth Day Ottawa. Please see the Registration and Order form for the parts you
can order.
More than Just-a-Race:
- Along with designing and building at least one (1) car and up to a maximum
of 5 cars, the Solar Sprint competition also requires your school team
to produce and submit, as a minimum, one (1) of the following: a website
or a digital video or a PowerPoint slide
presentation illustrating knowledge of renewable energy and the car design
process. You may submit up to a maximum of three (3) of each of these other
components of the Solar Sprint competition if desired. Details of what is to be
included in these components of the Solar Sprint competition are given in the
manuals that you can download from this website. This is an excellent
opportunity for students not interested in designing and building a car to
actively participate in the competition.
Work Commitment Guideline:
- Students find this project quite challenging so plenty of time should be
allowed for the students to experiment. Successful teams from 2007 and 2008
began a few weeks before the March break, ran sessions as an after-school
project and had about 20 hours in sessions. A suggested minimum would be to
start just after March break and spend at least 10 hours on the project. The
project may be done during school hours or after school.
Mentoring for the Teams:
- Earth Day Ottawa and the Solar Sprint Steering Committee will attempt to
match at least one volunteer to assist and advise your students in the design
and construction of their cars, and in the production of their videos, Web
Sites and/or PowerPoint slide presentations, if you desire. The mentoring
program is optional for the school.
Prizes:
- Prizes are to be awarded to the three fastest cars, the three best
Websites, the three best PowerPoint Presentations and the three best Videos as
determined by the judges.
The competition is open to the first 64 teams that register and pay the
registration fee. Cheques should be payable to Earth Day Ottawa, and
mailed or delivered to:
Elaine Gibson,
56 Robson Court,
Kanata, ON, K2K 2W1
Phone: 613-599-3112
Be sure to e-mail this year's coordinator:
gibson.earthdayottawa@gmail.com
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Please join us for this exciting and fun event!
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| Solar Sprint kit - 3W solar panel, motor, mounting bracket, 3 motor shaft
gears. Our version of the Solar Sprint kit also includes the wheel kit seen at
the right and some electrical and mechanical bits and pieces (not shown). |
Solar Sprint Accessory kit - 2 axles, 4 wheels/tires, 2 spur gears |
What the future might hold...
 Queen's University, Kingston
Ontario Canada Solar Powered Vehicle Team entry for the World Solar Challenge
and the North American Solar Challenge competitions.
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Goals
- To introduce students to alternative energy sources and engineering
concepts by having them design, build and race small model-size solar powered
cars.
- To help students advance their creativity and computer skills by having
them produce a web site, a PowerPoint presentation or a digital video.
Volunteers Needed
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