Come see the world's only solar drag race!
When:
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Where:
Confluence Technology Center
Technology Way
Wenatchee, Washington


Welcome

Welcome to the web site dedicated solar drag racing. Unlike other solar races you may be familiar with, solar drag racing is different. Solar drag racers use only sunlight captured by their vehicle over the straight course. No batteries or other pre-charged energy devices are allowed to power the racers down the straight-away.

Small, but exciting solar drag race in June 2009!

Under beautiful sunny skies, South Whidbey High School and Wenatchee High School competed in the fifth annual solar drag race held in Wenatchee, Washington on Saturday, June 20th. Using only sunlight and no batteries, racers accelerated head-to-head down a straight 250 meter (820 feet) distance, reaching unofficial speeds of up to 36 miles per hour during preliminary trial runs. In spite of having transmission problems that limited them to first gear, Whidbey Island’s 1.3 kilowatt (1.7 horsepower) solar racer, driven by Paul Dickerson, won the unlimited division with a time of 36.19 seconds. Wenatchee‘s dragster, driven by J.D. Riggs, finished in 39.12 seconds. Wenatchee’s Krayson Gates led the second heat, only to be passed by Whidbey’s Kelly Keilwitz in the final 150 feet when Wenatchee’s rear drive sprocket failed. Widbey finished in 36.8 seconds and Wenatchee’s dragster with a 0.680 kilowatt (0.9 horsepower) solar array crossed the finish line in 38.4 seconds.

East Wenatchee High School and Chehalis High School were not able to complete their dragsters in time to compete in this year’s event that was sponsored by the Port of Chelan County’s Advanced Vehicle Innovations and organized by Jim White.

Last year's cloudy day did not stop 2008 solar drag racers.

Too cloudy for world record- Wenatchee World Front Page Story.
The Wenatchee World's headline news story covered the solar drag race in Wenatchee. Included with the news story is a 3 minute video of the 2008 event. It was unclear if there was even going to be a race due to the heavy cloud cover. Although the racers were slower last year, it turns out there was still enough sun to hold a competitive event.

This year's event was successful because of the hard work put in by South Whidbey High School, Republic Middle/High School, Wenatchee High School and Brook Solar's Photon Phantom teams. Chehalis High School had assembled a solar array using the solar cells donated by REC Silicon, but did not complete their race frame in time to compete in this year's event. Chehalis, Republic and Wenatchee high schools all plan to have new light-weight modules made from the REC silicon cells ready to go for the race in 2009.
Brook Solar's Team Photon Phantom, Wenatchee High School and Republic Middle and High School teams all put on a great show! South Whidbey Island won the unlimited division and Wenatchee High School won the high school division. Click here to see detailed results of the 2008 race.

Dr. Andy Frank (a.k.a. Professor Fate, from "The Great Race"), a distinguished professor from the University of California at Davis, was on hand to pass out the awards at the 2008 event. Dr. Frank is the world leader in the development of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. It was an honor having him on hand to officiate the 2008 Solar Drag Race.

Additional details of the 2008 solar drag race will be added in the next couple of days. Please check back for additional photos and information.

Other teams that would like to create a light-weight solar array using the composite honeycomb structure can contact Composite Laminate Specialties, Inc., a manufacturer of high performance hydrofoil boat hulls and aviation parts located in Pacific, Washington. A light-weight module reuires a much lighter support stucture and theoretically should result in a much faster solar dragster.

2008 Race Results

South Whidbey High School chose to compete in the unlimited division and successfully defended their title at the Fourth Annual Solar Drag Race that was held in 2008. Whidbey chose to compete in the unlimited division because their open circuit voltages were greater than 50 volts and their solar racer was worth more than $5,000. Brooks Solar's Team Photon Phantom placed second in the unlimited division. It would have been interesting to see if the race results would have been different had there been full sun. Wenatchee High School won the high school division. Republic Middle/High School competed well this year, overcoming technical difficulties with relays catching fire.
Large Photo of 2008 Solar Drag Race Winner! Brooks 2008 Solar Dragster Entry
Wenatchee High School's 2008 Solar Dragster Republic's 2008 dragster was built by junior and senior high students!

Check out the 2007 photos or see the 2006 and 2005 photos. The official solar drag race rules for the event can be found by going here.


REC Silicon - Official Race Sponsor of the World's Only Solar Drag Race! Official Sponsor of the 2006 Solar Drag Race