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That’s a wrap on the Sasol Solar Challenge, widely considered the most challenging for testing the technology in South Africa.

More than a dozen teams battled it out in an intense, eight-day race, covering thousands of kilometres and ever-shifting weather, altitudes and terrain that pushed the engineers to their limits, making every moment a test of endurance and ingenuity.

On the last day of the race, on Friday, a team of Belgian students and engineers won the renowned solar-powered car race, notes EWN.

“Innoptus claimed victory after breaking their own record not once, but twice during the competition,” the organisers of the Sasol Solar Challenge said in a statement.

Since its debut in 2008, this biennial race has been a thrilling showcase of endurance and innovation. On September 13, in the northeastern town of Secunda, 14 teams lined up at the starting point, all vying for victory as they embarked on a gruelling journey to the finish line in Cape Town.

“This is a crucible… It is the most extreme solar challenge in the world,” race director Rob Walker told AFP at the finish line.

Over the past editions of the challenge, the race has seen innovation at its finest – from sleek aerodynamic designs to state-of-the-art energy management systems – all redefining the boundaries of sustainable transportation.

The Innoptus car had a flat surface decked with photovoltaic panels and a white exterior, with a narrow driver’s seat sporting the number plate “SUN 08”. Starting the last leg on a morning with perfect solar charge, they zoomed past the finish line.

 

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Arne Besteijns, the public relations officer for Innoptus Solar, said “If you want to create a renewable future, we still have a lot of work to do but we believe in ourselves and it’s possible to do it”.

 

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The other teams hailed from South Africa, Qatar, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey and Germany. Ebenhezer Tswana, a driver for one of the two South African teams, said many people did not believe their car would make it.

“I’m very happy because actually, this car we actually drove all the way,” he said.

 

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It is not just a race; it is a platform for demonstrating the transformative power of solar energy on a global scale, said the Brunel Solar Team via ESI Africa.

“This partnership aims to demonstrate the immense potential of solar technology in real-world applications, particularly in high-stakes, competitive environments like the Sasol Solar Challenge,” the team said.

One of the goals of the Sasol Solar Challenge is to impact communities along the route to embrace renewable energy and STEM education. Since its debut in 2008, the event has visited roughly 50 towns in eight of the nine provinces in South Africa and has inspired thousands of schoolchildren.

Each day, solar cars in the Challenger, Cruiser and Adventure Class and their support vehicles traverse a route of between 250km and 300 km.

Compared to previous iterations, this year’s solar race had an even more extreme format, with the solar cars racing for eight days from Johannesburg to Cape Town, facing enormous altitude differences, severe weather conditions and busy cities. The team with the most kilometres after eight days wins the race.

[source:ewn]