Cal State LA Solar Car Team

The Cal State LA Solar Car Team is an engineering team from California State University, Los Angeles. The team develops the Solar Eagle, a series of solar cars that have taken part in solar car races in the United States and in Australia.

Solar Eagle
World Solar Challenge
Cal State LA

The Solar Eagle was designed and built by the Cal State L.A. School of Engineering & Technology students, faculty and staff. In July 1990, the Solar Eagle placed fourth in the 1,643 mile GM Sunrayce, the best performance among California entrants, and ahead of 28 other colleges and universities including MIT and Stanford. In the daily races, it placed first twice, second once, and third place three times, and the Solar Eagle was the only car in the race that had no mechanical or electrical failures during the race.

Solar Eagle also placed in the top ten of the November 1990 World Solar Challenge in Australia.

Department of Energy Awards: First place for "Best Artistic Design" ($500), Second place for "Innovation in Power Train Design" ($800), Third place for "Teamwork" ($600)

Society of Automotive Engineers Award: Fifth place for "Engineering Design and Safety"

Other Honors Engineering Excellence Award: Unique Mobility, Inc. The Governor's Energy Award: State of Florida Team Honored by Los Angeles City Council, August 10, 1990 Nationally televised appearance on Into the Night, Starring Rick Dees, August 15, 1990 Team Honored by Department of Water and Power Board of Commissioners, August 23, 1990 City of Los Angeles, Mayor Tom Bradley: Commendation Board of Directors, City of Pasadena: Commendation City of Alhambra, Mayor Barbara Messina: Commendation City of Monterey Park, Mayor Judy Chu: Commendation U.S. Senator Pete Wilson: Commendation U.S. Congressman Matthew G. Martinez: Congressional Award

Car Specifications Length: 6 meters Width: 2 meters Height: 1 meter Weight: 459 pounds (without driver) Drag Coefficient: 0.123 Frame: Welded 6061 T6 aluminum alloy tubing (Weight=23 pounds) Body: Carbon fiber/NOMEX composite sandwich Solar panel: Fiberglass/NOMEX composite sandwich Solar cells: 8,945 Spectrolab K7 single-crystal silicon space quality cells Motor: Unique Mobility, Inc. DC brushless motor Batteries: Eagle-Picher silver-zinc batteries; 120 volt nominal buss voltage; 4 kW-hr total capacity at C20 rate

World Solar Challenge Start: Darwin, Australia Finish: Adelaide, Australia Distance: 1,900 miles Date: November 11, 1990

Entries: 40 cars from 9 countries (13 Australia, 11 Japan, 9 United States)

Solar Eagle II
GM Sunrayce USA

In June 1993, the Solar Eagle II placed third in the 1000 mile SUNRAYCE 93 — a cross-country race from Dallas, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Solar Eagle II started the race in the pole position having qualified with the fastest time. Solar Eagle II finished ahead of 33 other universities including such Stanford, George Washington University and UC Berkeley. The car and team were honored with a second place award in Technical Innovation for Chassis Design, Propulsion and Aerodynamic Systems by the SUNRAYCE 93 judges and they received a third place award from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for Design Excellence in Engineering Safety. In November 1993, the Solar Eagle II gained international recognition by placing thirteenth out of a fifty-four car field, and became the fourth U.S. team to cross the finish line at the 1993 World Solar Challenge, a grueling 1,882 mile race across the Australian outback.

Cal State L.A. was selected as one of 30 universities granted entry in the SUNRAYCE 95 competition as well, for which the Solar Eagle II was revamped.

Major Corporate and Government Agency Sponsors • AB2766 - Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee • Automobile Club of South-ern California • Caltrans • Hewlett-Packard Company • Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) • Los Angeles Department of Water and Power • MacNeal-Schwe-Corporation • NASA Langley: Center • Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc. • Society for the Avancment of Materia Process Engines. (SAMPE) • South Coast Air Quality Management District • Southern California Edison • TRW

Vehicle Technical Specifications Length: 16 feet Width: 6.1 feet Height: 3.3 feet Weight: 360 pounds (without driver and batteries) Structure: Welded aluminum space frame with carbon fiber composite battery box and underneath pan to provide shear and torsional strength. Body: Carbon fiber skin with Rohacell structural foam core.

Solar power system: 754 single crystal BP Saturn cells (3.7" x 3/8") on top; 824 quarter-size cut cells on vehicle sides. Cerium doped and antireflective

Solar Eagle III
GM Sunrayce USA

Solar Eagle III was the third solar-powered electric vehicle built by Cal State L.A. Again engineered by students under the guidance of faculty and staff, the Solar Eagle III drew from the first two designs, the Solar Eagle and the Solar Eagle II.

On Saturday, June 28, 1997, the Solar Eagle III won Sunrayce 97, the national intercollegiate solar car race. Solar Eagle III set a Sunrayce record for average speed of 43.29 miles per hour (69.67 km/h) and finished nearly 20 minutes ahead of second-place Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The combined team of Stanford University/UC Berkeley finished third. Texas A&M, whose team used the molds from Cal State L.A.'s Solar Eagle II to build their entry, the MACH V, finished fourth.

During the 1,230 mile course, the Solar Eagle III suffered no breakdowns or other unscheduled stops, a distinction shared with only the Texas A&M MACH V.

Technical Specifications

  • Weight: 427 pounds (without driver and batteries)
  • Length: 19.2 feet
  • Width: 6.3 feet
  • Height: 3.1 feet
  • Rolling Chassis: carbon fiber monocoque structure
  • Body and Solar Panel: carbon fiber skin with Nomex honeycomb core Solar Cells: 762 terrestrial grade silicon cells (4.05" x 3.94") by Siemens wired in four parallel strings
  • Panel Voltage: 85-volts peak string voltage
  • Tire Rolling Resistance: .0045
  • Drag Coefficient: .15
  • Wheel Base: 104 inches
  • Wheels and Tires: wheels have composite centers with aluminum rims; tires are Bridgestone Ecopia
  • Brakes and Suspension: front brakes are mechanical hydraulic; regenerative rear brakes. Suspension is double A-arm in the front and swing arm in the rear
  • Batteries: 108-volt system with nine 12-volt batteries by U.S. Battery Manufacturing Company; weight-307 lbs
  • Motor System: two interchangeable motor systems: 1.) Wheel motor (NGM-SC-M100) and controller (NGM-SC-C100) by New Generation Motor Corporation and 2.) DC Brushleiss motor (BRLS8) and controller (110H) by Solectria Corporation with belt drive

Photo album of the car

Publications

The team has been featured in the following local, national, and international media:

Books

References
  1. "Solar Eagle 1".
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