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This Ride is Powered by the Sun

By Laura Lane 331-4362 | llane@heraldt.com
July 18, 2009

When I asked John Powers how I would climb my way out of Bloomington High School South's solar car after driving it a few laps around the parking lot, he said, "Don't worry, there's an ejector seat."

He was kidding, but given the various buttons and knobs on the student-built and sun-powered car, I would not have been surprised to be launched into the air out with the flip of a switch.

John and fellow South student Ian Byers-Gamber introduced me to the car they have been working to perfect the past few years. They are members of South's solar bike racing team and bound for Japan later this month to compete.

They wish they could take their 400-pound solar car along, but it would cost thousands of dollars to ship it overseas. They have fallen short of their fund-raising goal, so getting themselves and their bikes to Japan has proven enough of a challenge.

South teacher Cindy Kvale and her students several years ago built the solar car, which has been fine-tuned and improved every year. I agreed to write about it if I could drive the thing.

When I first saw the car, I wondered what in the world had I been thinking. There definitely was no room for me in the cockpit. Make that the driver's seat. But John is 6-foot-4, so I figured if he could drive the car then so could I. Getting in was no problem, although my hips were pretty snug in that molded go-kart seat.

Once I was in - OK, stuck - Kvale handed me the steering wheel and a metal pin, and I attached it to the post between my knees. It took her, John and Ian to get me strapped into the five-point racing harness. When I shoved the helmet on my head my bangs obscured my vision somewhat.

I flipped the red lever, then the black "on-off" switch. A fan came on. I moved the throttle with my thumb, turned the wheel left and took off, propelled by three 12-volt marine batteries with stored solar power, soaked up by 460 solar cells the size of a credit cards, that kick started a motor in the back. The carbon-fiber car has mountain bike disc brakes on the steering wheel, next to throttle, which Powers explained is "like a gas pedal but it's not a pedal and there's no gas."

Got it.

He instructed me to "put your feet up in that sling like it's an easy Sunday afternoon, and to not go too fast." He pointed to a device and said, "This fuse will blow if you get too much current."

I may have gotten the car up to 15 mph, and scared the car builders when I nearly pulled into the path of a Dodge Neon. "Stop!" Ian screamed. I did.

Bloomington Indiana Herald Times