The Sasol Solar Challenge announced that the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has joined the event as the official technical and science partner. The CSIR will ensure that the four-day scrutineering process at Red Star Raceway runs smoothly, and that all solar cars meet the requirements to compete in the 2022 Sasol Solar Challenge from September 9-16.
“One of the key focuses of the CSIR is to conduct cutting-edge research and technological innovation to improve the quality of life of South Africans. The organization also develops transformative technologies to accelerate socio-economic prosperity. These values align perfectly with the Sasol Solar Challenge, which strives to be the ultimate test of technologies and innovations developed for real-world challenges – contributing towards the renewable energy and mobility sectors,” said Robert Walker, Owner and Director of the Sasol Solar Challenge. “We are delighted to partner with the organization and look forward to working with the team of experts at CSIR.”
As part of the partnership, CSIR will provide the Sasol Solar Challenge with technical experts, who will be scrutineering the solar cars from 4 to 7 September. The scrutineering process will include static and dynamic tests.
“As the country and the region’s foremost experts in emerging energy technologies including their optimal design, build and efficiency, it was a natural fit for the CSIR’s experts in energy systems; fuel cells; and battery storage amongst others; to scrutineer this year’s Sasol Solar Challenge participants,” said Tendani Tsedu, CSIR Group Manager: Strategic Communications. “The Sasol Solar Challenge is a clear demonstration of contextualizing global trends to local realities, and our expertise and commitment to innovating and building future capacity to address energy efficiency and cleaner energy, is key to this.”
Nozipho Mbatha, Senior Manager: Group Brand and Sponsorships at Sasol also welcomed CSIR: “We are thrilled to partner with one of South Africa’s leaders in scientific and technology research. Their expertise in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields will contribute immensely to the initial and most crucial phase of the Sasol Solar Challenge, which is the scrutineering process. This will also be an opportunity for knowledge sharing among the solar car teams and the CSIR scrutineer experts.”
About Sasol Solar Challenge
The Sasol Solar Challenge, (previously known as South African Solar Challenge) in its fourteenth year, is a biennial competition that strives to be the ultimate test of technology and innovation. Engineering teams from around the world challenge each other to cover as much distance as possible as they travel on public roads from Gauteng to the Western Cape. Local and international teams conceptualize, design and build solar-powered vehicles to drive across South Africa in the eight-day long event while competing against each other, demonstrating and showcasing their design, manufacturing, and strategy skills. The challenge runs on public roads, sharing space with trucks and regular traffic, and passes through multiple small towns. The Sasol Solar Challenge was inspired by the World Solar Challenge which is now known as the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge held in Australia since 1987.