RED Horizon has been revealed on July 16th 2021. The solar car is the ninth solar car of Solar Team Twente and is currently being prepared for a new Solar Challenge in Morocco. The goal of the team is to win the race of no less than 2500 kilometers in Morocco. Besides that, the team wants to show what is possible with today’s technology, and how this technology can be optimized for use in highly efficient solar cars in just one year’s time. The higher goal is to inspire as many people as possible to think in possibilities, and to chase their ambitions and dreams! Of course Nijkerk Electronics supports the Solar Team Twente in achieving these goals.
Main changes of the Solar Car
As a starting point the students always use the previous solar car and to optimize it further. For the current team this was the RED E from 2019. Accountmanager Remco Hoen explains the most important changes of the new car.
Remco Hoen: “Our new solar car, RED Horizon, is very different from all the solar cars previously built by Solar Team Twente. This year the team built a car with only three wheels instead of four. This proved to be a great challenge for our technical team. They also chose a different aerodynamic design. This year Solar Team Twente has chosen the so-called ‘monohull’. This is an arrow-shaped car. Besides that, the team went back to silicon solar panels. These are less efficient solar panels than the ones used in the previous car. Because of the lesser efficiency, the solar panel has to be larger, which is why RED Horizon is larger than the previous one!”
Gigavac GX21SAB from Nijkerk Electronics
The Gigavac GX21SAB from Nijkerk Electronics is also part of the new car. Remco: “To ensure the safety of our drivers we use these reliable relays. We use the relays to shut down the battery pack during an emergency. These Gigavac GX-series relays are perfect for our solar car. They can handle very high currents, while remaining extremely efficient. We are very happy that Nijkerk Electronics helped us with these relays.”
Solar Challenge Morocco 2021
The car is ready and in a few weeks Solar Team Twente will participate in the Solar Challenge Morocco 2021. The Solar Challenge Morocco is a 5-day rally in which different stages between 400 km and 600 km need to be accomplished. This results in a race of approx. 2500 km. The start and finish will be in Agadir, a coastal town in the south of Morocco. All stages are located in the southeast of the Atlas Mountains, at the foot of the Sahara Desert. Here we will camp in bivouacs together with the other teams and prepare for the next stage.
Nijkerk Electronics wishes team RED Horizon good luck with the race!
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