World's First Solar Drag Race
2007 Solar Drag Race Photos
The Solar Drag Race World Champions.
Picture of solar racers in front of the Confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee, Washington.
Randy Brooks and his Team Photon Phantom prepares to take on the competition.
Republic Middle School's pit crew icing down and chilling their solar modules to
get maximum voltage and power.
South Whidbey High School's driver prepares for his run down the track.
A series of pictures showing Whidbey's electric motor, controller and transmission.
Their transmission consists of a cable wrapped around a specially designed pulley.
The arrangement provides the optimum gear ratio throughout the 1/4 kilometer distance.
At the start of the race the pulley on the motor shaft has a very small diameter.
As the dragster accelerates, the cable builds up the diameter of the motor shaft, while
reducing the diameter of the shaft attached to the wheels.
Central Washington University's unique lightweight dragster structure.
South Whidbey and Brook Solar's Team Photon Phantoms go head-to-head on their way to set
a new world record.
South Whidbey Island won first place in the the unlimited division with a time of 29.5 seconds
and reaching a top speed of 25 mph.
Republic Middle School dragster after a successful run donw the track.
Republic race team poses at the finish line. Even though they are middle schoolers,
the Republic team won the high school division and set a new high school division record!
Congratulations!
The Brooks Team Photon Phantom poses by their awesome looking dragster.
Team Photon Phantom beat the previous unlimited division record that was set in 2005.
Another shot of Team Photon Phantom VERY cool looking dragster.
Central Washington University finished first in their division and won the $1,000 scholarship for
the second time in two years. Congratulations Central Washington University.
Central Washington University made a successful run.
Dawson gets a hug from his friend Kaiya Boyce before he rockets off on the
A123 lithium ion battery powered go cart that his father built.
The go-cart has 10 li-ion battery cells that were removed from a 36-volt Dewalt battery pack.
A 165-watt solar module is plugged directly into MC connectors on the go-cart to recharge the
batteries. The electric go cart was made by replacing the gasoline engine with an 800-watt electric motor
and controller that were designed for the Great White scooter. The 1.5 pounds of lithium ion batteries
propels the go-cart to about 20 miles per hour. They have a rated life of over 1000 full depth discharges.
More 2007 photos will be added soon. Keep checking back.
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