Solar Freaks

jhg wrote:I've got a experimental design also, however its no good without a decent solar panel.

Jun, I think that all designs would struggle without a decent solar panel.

I'll be borrowing some of Girrawheens OLD DS modules. Their not the best but their better than most since we can still beat most of the schools in W.A. with them. But I will end up with some decent modules eventually. I don't know how my car will go. There is some points of down force, some drag at the back but a very small amount of ground affect relative to most cars. To be honest I'm testing more the shape of the car than its performance. It's just a basic four wheeler. Nothing special. I spent 5 hours today turning some new nylon wheels for Girrawheen (around 30 wheels). Only helped out because I needed to make some for myself. The quality of the wheels are not the best (given 1 wheels in 10minutes) but the bearings on the other hand... $12 each; better be excellent. I will have my car finished by next week during my study break, so I'll send you an image.

Interested in seeing all the experimental cars out there this year!

Also forgot to mention, I'll be racing with no maximizer, maybe...

Jun,

Will Girrawheen be using John's new Engelec modules this year? If so, are they the 3 or 4 cell ones and how many modules will Girrawheen be going with per panel?

I'll be interested in seeing how your experimental car turns out.
If I get a test car built, I also intend on giving no electronics a run but more to obtain some on-track figures to help determine the new panel weight reduction percentage for no-electronics in 2011.

Marc

Hi all,
I am trying out my new found power by commenting on the selection of the wildcard entry. From my personal point of view I agree with the concept of running off the 2 prospective cars on friday, and would support this. I can only see 2 possible problems. The first is the last minute inclusion of a car into marc's seeding programe, which I do not expect to be significant. The second problem is possibly a killer, that is the availability of the track on friday. While we expect the track to be erected by then, track erection is being arranged at the WA end and is an activity out of our direct control. Hopefully we will have an accurate indication of the proposed track erection date and time a few weeks out from the event. As for track availability, I assume this will not be a problem but as the track is in a public place this may present some unforseen problems.
These concerns need to be raised at the next national committee meeting so we can get answers in time to make appropriate plans.

I. Gardner

Welcome to solarfreaks Ian.

It was only going to be a matter of time before you signed up since you now have an internet connection.

Inclusion into the Round Robin/time trials event on Saturday will be a non-issue. It will just be a matter of typing the car name and school into an excel spreadsheet cell.

As you say, ensuring that the track is up early enough on Friday will be the main problem. I think that we ought to be able to get something sorted out though. I will be arriving in Perth at 1am on Friday morning and so should be around to help out early Friday if needed.

By the way, have you figured out how to use the private messaging on the forum yet?

Marc

miseli wrote:Welcome to solarfreaks Ian.

Ditto.

Worst case scenario they can flip a coin on the day. Both teams are going to be there anyway.

Anyhow, i have a feeling both teams may run in the event as the car that came forth in NSW may not even attend, freeing up a spot. I will have confirmation of this soon.

Hahahaaa. I can't be spilling Girrawheens secrets yet. In fact they currently don't even have the Engelec modules over here. But if Girrawheen is allowed to have 3 cars in the W.A competition, I would expect them to use both DS and Engelec modules. In regards to cells per module, what would you recommend? Although there are many factors to consider...

If you remember, I was complain about a faulty maximizer last year. So I'm having a closer look at it over the weekends. If I find whats wrong then lucky me. But if not, most probably throw it out, so it doesn't get confused with the others. I'll try and get some times from my car without a maximizer at our states.

I apologize in advance. I don't think my experimental car can carry 2kg. I've only tested it for 1kg so far. Without extra support I think the balsa base will collapse. When I get my drive system attached, I'll get a true indication of the max support weight. But I hope its up to scratch to give Moorebank a good challenge.

jhg wrote:In fact they currently don't even have the Engelec modules over here. But if Girrawheen is allowed to have 3 cars in the W.A competition, I would expect them to use both DS and Engelec modules. In regards to cells per module, what would you recommend? Although there are many factors to consider...

Girrawheen haven't got any Engelecs in yet? They had better hurry. I have heard from John that a lot of WA schools have been buying them and so Girrawheen could be in for a real battle at the WA event.
I thought that you might have ordered some of them in earlier this year, but John has since then sold out all of the 3 cell modules. The 4 cell ones are now the only ones that are still available. Anywhere between 7 and 10 of these modules will then be able to be used for a car panel. Because of the extra cell in these modules, no more than 10 will be able to be used since any more will result in an open circuit voltage of greater than 25V.

Marc