Collegiate Solar Car Racing Comes to Bowling Green - WBKO

Collegiate Solar Car Racing Comes to Bowling Green

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - The Formula Sun Grand Prix, a solar car race, is happening on the National Corvette Museum Track July 16-18.

The Formula Sun Grand Prix race is the qualifying event of the larger American Solar Challenge, a series of cross-country street races for solar-powered cars.

To even race in the qualifier beginning on Tuesday, the cars must pass multiple vehicle inspections and checks to ensure everything is operational and compliant.

Each racing team is made up of undergraduate students from various universities across the world. Some travel from opposite ends of the United States, and others travel from Canada, Italy, and even the Netherlands.

Each university team has different departments that make it up. These can include battery specialists, solar specialists, media teams, and finance specialists to keep track of equipment expenses.

For most teams, the students come together through hours of work and travel which form a close-knit team bond. Such a bond has formed on the team at Western Michigan University, who are competing in their first American Solar Challenge since 2018.

“We operate just like a family... we bicker we argue but at the end of the day, we all understand we have a common goal of making this the best car we’ve ever had” said Western Michigan team member Maddy Reidy.

The sense of comradery in the solar car community stretches beyond the bond of an individual team.

“Everybody here just wants to help each other. We don’t want to see anybody break down on the side of the road because we all understand how long it’s taken” said Reidy.

Reidy added “The process of building, designing, and manufacturing a solar car is years long... it’s so much time, so much energy, and love and everybody understands that.”

The international competition fosters not only a sense of community among students across all majors in their university but has also created a bond and comradery among students from across the world.

“This is by far the healthiest competition environment I’ve ever seen... every team here wants everyone to compete... so we’re all sharing tools, information... whatever we can to make sure everybody’s on track” said Aaron Green, a member of the Appalachian State University team.

The Formula Sun Grand Prix is open to the public and racing will take place July 16-18. Racing will begin at 10 a.m.

To learn more about Western Michigan University’s car “Sunseeker”, check out their Facebook page.

To learn more about Appalachian State University’s car “ROSE”, check out their Instagram page.

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