Solar Freaks

I wrote down the voltage and current, I will add it in to the spreadsheet. But somebody (me lol) didn't write down what panels people were using. From memory, Stilleto and one of the Newington cars were using John's panels. As Tony said most were using cheap DSE cells from many years ago.

okay I haven't got the MPP voltage or current, only the Voc and Isc, so have a look. That's about all the data that was recorded. Also I'll see if I can get some photos during the week off some people, and hopefully upload them for everybody to see.

Thanks Ben.

Although Vmp and Imp would have been optimal, Voc and Isc are good enough for approximating what they would have been around about.

I am assuming that the Voc values that are listed there were measured at 50%?

Were any scrutineering photos taken?

Marc, All measurement were made at 100%.

Some results appear to be less than what they should be, but as you said, that is because we are measuring at full sun, as opposed to 50% and doubling.

Because we are able to measure FF, we decided that if anyone has a low FF at 1 Sun, we will measure there output at 50% and double it.

You will find that as you measure at 100%, you will have lower FF as opposed to 50%.

Robert Largent took photos of every car. Ill post these up as soon as i get a hand on them.

TonyB wrote:Because we are able to measure FF, we decided that if anyone has a low FF at 1 Sun, we will measure there output at 50% and double it.

Good enough I think. Ian has run a number of tests on Scorpio and Engelec panels and found that the powers measured at 50% sun are very close to half of that produced at 100%.

Taking 100% to now be at AM 1.5 instead of at around AM 1.1 will be another reason why panels are reading lower than in 2009.
This changing of the 100% datum was brought in to align the challenge with the solar industry after many teams were turning up with panels that were exceeding 12W even though the manufacturers were stating otherwise.

TonyB wrote:You will find that as you measure at 100%, you will have lower FF as opposed to 50%.

Yes, that should be the case.

I look forward to seeing some photos,

Marc

miseli wrote:Like last year at the nationals, the winning Moorebank car's chassis is again several hundred grams heavier than what the lightest cars are

Yeah I noticed this, Stealth weighed over 500 grams?! Is there a particular reason for this?
I was awstruck at first but perhaps having a 12W panel and 2kg of ballest nullifies the benefit of a lighter chassis, percentage wise if you know what I mean.

There seems to be a big push towards having a light chassis in WA. If you look at the national results the two Girrawheen cars, the two Aquinas cars and the two Winthrop cars made up 6 of the lighest 8 chassis.

Redland, from what I have heard, 200gram only effects time by 0.1-0.2 seconds, according to officials in W.A. no names. But if you look at Ian's sim, the effect of 200grams is roughly 0.35 seconds. So there is a difference. However the Moorebank cars are well built and therefore the extra weight is negligible.

The extra weight will affect you more in 1 lap races as opposed to 2 lap races.
But as you said, for 12 watt array, 100 grams isnt going to cause much difference at all.

jhg wrote:Redland, from what I have heard, 200gram only effects time by 0.1-0.2 seconds, according to officials in W.A. no names. But if you look at Ian's sim, the effect of 200grams is roughly 0.35 seconds. So there is a difference. However the Moorebank cars are well built and therefore the extra weight is negligible.

Jun, I think Ian's simulator at 0.35 seconds difference is a little closer to the mark. The simulator I have shows similar results. This is in good sunlight and the difference will be even greater in the lower sunlights since car rolling resistances then become more influential.

A heavy car will still be able to defeat even the lightest car if the lighter car has increased losses elsewhere. Of course a light car with minimal losses would be the best setup.

TonyB wrote:The extra weight will affect you more in 1 lap races as opposed to 2 lap races.
But for 12 watt array 100 grams isnt going to cause much difference at all.

As Tony has mentioned the weight will only really slow your 1st lap. The extra weight will have little effect on the time taken to complete lap 2.

Having a heavy car is one of the reasons why Moorebank go with a high powered panel. If they were to use just a 6W panel I think that you would find a drop in their performance.

Given the weight of the Moorebank car, I think that they should be able to be beaten by someone who knows what they're doing. Problem is these numbers aren't really in high supply.

Marc

miseli wrote:
Given the weight of the Moorebank car, I think that they should be able to be beaten by someone who knows what they're doing. Problem is these numbers aren't really in high supply.

Marc

I agree. We need more teams to be able to get the fundamentals right before anything else.
Whats the point of having a light car if your gears aren't meshed correctly, or your wheels don't run straight?
One thing Moorebank are good at, is getting there car set-up perfectly.
I think this comes with experience, so hopefully this year or the next we will see better quality cars.

TonyB wrote:

miseli wrote:
Given the weight of the Moorebank car, I think that they should be able to be beaten by someone who knows what they're doing. Problem is these numbers aren't really in high supply.

Marc

I agree. We need more teams to be able to get the fundamentals right before anything else.
Whats the point of having a light car if your gears aren't meshed correctly, or your wheels don't run straight?
One thing Moorebank are good at, is getting there car set-up perfectly.
I think this comes with experience, so hopefully this year or the next we will see better quality cars.

I'll keep my response short and sweet..

I agree with both Marc and Tony

Yes, I agree also. The wheels that Girrawheen have after a good wash can spin for 1 minute due to their expensive bearings, however whats the point, since their wheels don't spin true. Only a few do. The other day, I got to see, play with some of the VIC supplier wheels. Their huge and very expensive. They spin true but the bearings are average quality. I tried to get a quote for 55mm wheel (smallest they can make it) and they were $15 each without b earing if you buy over 100. I wouldn't mind seeing how Tony suggested wheels will compare... and its at a reasonable price.