Canadian PV car sets world record

WATERLOO, Ontario, CA, 2004-09-29 (Refocus Weekly)

The solar-powered vehicle from a Canadian university has completed a 40-day tour and set a new world record for distance.

The Midnight Sun VII was built by students at the University of Waterloo in southern Ontario, and started a tour last month that exceeded 13,000 by travelling across Canada to Vancouver, south to California, east to Florida and north to Newfoundland before returning to Waterloo. It was seen in seven provinces and 15 states.

The record must be ratified by the International Solar Car Federation and Guinness World Records, in the category of longest distance in a single journey by a solar-powered car. Early in its tour, the car broke the official Guinness world record of 7,044 km set by its competitor university, Queen's of Kingston, in July 2000. The standing unofficial record of 13,054 km was set in 2002 by the Aurora Vehicle Association of Melbourne for a circumnavigation of Australia.

Waterloo University has been involved in solar cars since 1989, and the three-wheeled Midnight Sun VII was designed for the 2003 American Solar Challenge in which it was placed third and was the top Canadian finisher among the 28 entries. That 3,700 km contest ran from Chicago to Los Angeles over eleven days.

The team dedicated the record to the memory of Andrew Frow, the driver of the Blue Sky Solar Car built by the University of Toronto. Frow was killed in a traffic accident in August.

“Our team deeply felt his loss and were encouraged to continue our tour by Andrew's parents and the University of Toronto team,” says spokesman Greg Thompson. “We hope that our tour is a fitting tribute to his memory.”

The Waterloo team has competed in every major solar vehicle race in North America since 1990 and is the largest student-run project at the university.



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