Boiler Bytes - Purdue solar racing club

THIS IS SPOT 2. IT COULD VERY WELL BE THE CAR OF THE FUTURE. WE'RE GONNA LEARN MORE ABOUT PURDUE SOLAR RACING AND A UNIQUE CLUB THAT SUPPORTS IT. I'M IN PURDUE'S SOLAR RACING'S WORK GARAGE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT PSR IS ALL ABOUT. HEY, MACKENZIE. HI. THIS IS MACKENZIE. SHE'S THE PRESIDENT OF PSR. NOW, I KNOW IT'S NOT USUAL FOR A LOT OF UNIVERSITIES TO HAVE A SOLAR RACING COMPETITION CAR. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT WHAT PSR IS ALL ABOUT? PURDUE SOLAR RACING BUILDS, TESTS, AND RACES SOLAR CARS, SUCH AS THIS ONE HERE, PULSAR. AND WE ALSO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY THROUGH OUR OUTREACH PROGRAMS. NOW, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE A REALLY COMPLEX ISSUE. IS THIS FOR ENGINEERS ONLY, OR IS THIS A MULTIDISCIPLINE TYPE OF A CLUB? IT'S DEFINITELY A MULTIDISCIPLINARY CLUB. WE HAVE TEAMS SUCH AS A MARKETING TEAM AND RACE STRATEGY TEAM, WHICH DEFINITELY NEED MAJORS OTHER THAN ENGINEERING. IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE IT WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE. HOW DO YOU FUND THIS TYPE OF AUTOMOBILE? OUR SOLAR CARS ARE FUNDED ALL THROUGH DONATIONS FROM CORPORATIONS, PURDUE UNIVERSITY DONATES, AND ALSO INDIVIDUALS THROUGH AN ADOPT-A-CELL PROGRAM THAT WE RUN. NOW, I KNOW THE MAIN REASON YOU BUILD THESE CARS IS TO RACE IN A SOLAR COMPETITION. I HAVEN'T REALLY HEARD OF A SOLAR COMPETITION BEFORE THIS, SO WHAT ARE THOSE ALL ABOUT? WHAT DO YOU DO? WE HAVE TWO MAIN SOLAR COMPETITIONS. THE FIRST ONE IS THE SHELL ECO-MARATHON, WHICH PULSAR, THIS CAR HERE, IS GOING TO BE RACED IN, AND THAT'S AN EFFICIENCY RACE. AND THEN OUR OTHER RACE IS WE BUILD A STREET-LEGAL CAR, WHICH WE CALL SOLARITAS, AND IT'S RACED IN THE 2010 NORTH AMERICAN SOLAR CHALLENGE, WHICH IS A 2,000-MILE CROSS-COUNTRY RACE. THANKS, MACKENZIE. THANK YOU. I'M GONNA GO CATCH UP WITH TED NOW TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW THEY ACTUALLY BUILD A SOLAR CAR. HEY, TED, YOU GOT A SECOND? YEAH, SURE. I'M HERE WITH TED. HE'S THE HEAD MECHANICAL ENGINEER FOR PURDUE SOLAR RACING. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE HAVE THE QUESTION ABOUT HOW YOU TRANSFORM ORDINARY SUNLIGHT INTO POWER FOR A CAR. COULD YOU MAYBE EXPLAIN THAT TO US? YEAH, SURE. WELL, WE'VE GOT THESE SOLAR CELLS HERE, AND OUR CAR'S LINED WITH ABOUT 200, 250 OF THEM. AND WHAT THESE SOLAR CELLS DO IS THEY TAKE THE SUN'S ENERGY, THEY CAPTURE THE ENERGY, AND CHARGE THE BATTERIES IN THE CAR. NOW, ONCE THE BATTERIES ARE CHARGED, THAT'S WHAT RUNS OUR MOTOR AND MAKES OUR CAR GO. I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE TODAY ARE TALKING ABOUT MILES PER GALLON, EFFICIENCY IN CARS, RENEWABLE ENERGY. HOW EFFICIENT IS THIS CAR? WHAT KIND OF MILES PER GALLON DO YOU EXPECT WITH A SOLAR CAR? YEAH, WELL, THIS CAR IN PARTICULAR, IT'S -- LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S AN EFFICIENCY CAR. AND IN THIS CAR, IN TODAY'S TERM, WE GET AROUND 3,000 MILES A GALLON ON IT. THAT'S WHAT WE GOT ABOUT A YEAR AGO BEFORE WE MADE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CAR. NOW, SOME IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE MADE TO HELP MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT, MAKE IT LIGHTER, ARE WE CHANGED SOME MATERIALS, WHICH REDUCED THE WEIGHT IN THE CAR, AND WE PUT A MORE EFFICIENT MOTOR ON THE CAR. AND NOW WE GET AROUND 4,000 MILES A GALLON. I KNOW A QUESTION I HAD AND A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE PROBABLY HAVE IS, DOES THE SUN ACTUALLY HAVE TO BE OUT TO POWER THE CAR, OR CAN YOU DRIVE WITHOUT THE SUN? YEAH, NO, NOT AT ALL. WE CAN DRIVE WITHOUT THE SUN. WE'VE GOT THE BATTERIES IN THE FRONT OF THE CAR, WHICH, OF COURSE, ARE CHARGED BY THE SUN'S ENERGY. BUT IF THE SUN'S NOT OUT ON A DAY AND IT'S RAINING, IN FACT, OUTSIDE, OUR CAR CAN STILL RUN THREE, FOUR, FIVE HOURS AT CRUISE SPEED ON THE HIGHWAY. SO, HOW DID YOU GET TO BE LEAD MECHANICAL ENGINEER ON A SOLAR CAR? YEAH, WELL, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT RENEWABLE ENERGY, ABOUT SOLAR IN GENERAL. WHEN I CAME TO PURDUE, I WAS REALLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ALONG THAT LINES, AND I FOUND PURDUE SOLAR RACING, AND I REALLY WANTED TO GET INVOLVED. AND, YOU KNOW, IT REALLY JUST TOOK OFF FROM THERE. LIKE I SAID, IT'S ALWAYS BEEN A PASSION FOR ME. IF THERE'S ANYONE OUT THERE THAT HAS ANY SORT OF PASSION FOR SOLAR, RENEWABLE ENERGY, I REALLY ENCOURAGE THEM TO GET INVOLVED IN ANYTHING IN THEIR COMMUNITY OR AT THEIR SCHOOL. WELL, THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR TIME TODAY, TED. I KNOW YOU'RE BUSY, SO I'M GONNA LET YOU GET BACK TO WORK. SURE, THANK YOU. IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOLAR ENERGY OR PURDUE SOLAR RACING, YOU CAN GO TO purduesolar.org AND ALSO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION SO YOU CAN KEEP SOLAR POWER RACING HERE AT PURDUE. I'M KYLE CRAY FOR "BOILER BYTES."