The runaway winner of the South African 2010 Solar Challenge was the world’s fastest solar car – the “Tokai Challenger” from Japan – which can cruise at up to 160km/h using nothing but sunlight.The event was organized by the Advanced Energy Foundation and the Innovation Hub, and supported by the Department of Science and Technology, and was designed to “demonstrate the potential of renewable energy sources” in Southern Africa. The second Solar Challenge Race came to Pretoria with numerous records by vehicles powered by alternative energy having been broken. This race has been described as the one of the world’s toughest alternative energy races.
It saw heads turn in Cape Town, Richards Bay and dozens of small towns across South Africa. One South African team had gadgets explode on their home-made vehicle, while another “race car” had the indignity of watching a cyclist overtake them on a national highway. One of the space-age vehicle, which uses solar cells normally found on space satellites, was twice pulled over by startled traffic cops near East London in the Eastern Cape. Three locally made cars had successfully used alternative energy to make it all the way around the country in 10 days – and managed to capture the imagination of hundreds of would-be engineers along the way.
Race Director Winstone Jordaan said he would like to see the 2012 event attract more entrants, especially from other South African universities researching alternative energy sources. The vehicles travelled to Cape Town, stopping in Bloemfontein and Beaufort West during stage one. Stage two saw the teams travel from Stellenbosch to Pretoria,