Solar Jumpers build their own car
Jul. 27—Despite the hot Dallas sun blazing overhead or perhaps because of it, Somerset High School's own Solar car team — the Solar Jumpers — took third place in the in the 2022 National Solar Car Challenge and first place in the Siemens Mechanical Drawing Competition for the Electric-Solar Division.
The team has been working most of the school year to get the car ready to race.
Duchess is an electric car that charged off a large solar array, which collects solar energy and is able to convert it to electrical energy. She was entirely conceptualized, designed, engineered and built by Somerset High School students.
Jeff Wesley, principal of Somerset High School and the team's sponsor, went with the team to Dallas and described how the team performed in the competition.
"They would race with [the car] and then come into the pits," Wesley stated. "[For a] traditional pitstop in NASCAR, you pull in, change the tires, and get fuel. With these guys, they pull in, our pitcrew pulls the 72-volt battery pack that weighs about 100 pounds out, they put a new 72-volt batter pack in, and they make their connections and send it back out on the track."
"They were well-oiled machines. They changed the batteries out in about ten to twenty seconds then have the team back out on the track."
The first three days involved the teams going through a process called "Scrutineering" in which the teams go through six different stations and have every detail of their car reviewed for safety and mechanical efficiency as well as ensuring it passed all the regulations American cars have to pass to be considered "street legal."
The Solar Jumpers, however, were one of three teams that passed the all their Scrutineering trials on day one.
"A testimony to all the guidance they received and the work that the students did,"Wesley added. They had a good quality car."
The Solar Jumpers are the first team of this type that Somerset High School has ever produced.
"For being a first year team, they did great," Wesley vaunted.
The team raced four days total in the event. They raced four hours each day in the mornings, took a two-hour lunch to recuperate, make any repairs and adjustments that the vehicle required in time for the next competition.
While the team was disappointed not to take the first or second spot, Wesley was impressed with the results and considered the event a great accomplishment.
"I spoke to a sponsor. A team from New York City that brought a car, all that way, all that time, and they didn't pass Scrutineering, and they were not able to take the track," Wesley said to underline the accomplishment of merely getting the car on the track.
"The other teams that were in that division have had years of experience, so I thought our team did very well."
The car raced at a number that will sound underwhelming at first blush — a top of around 45 MPH (72.4 kmh). However, winning the competition relied not in speed but in number of laps the car could drive.
"You're trying to get the optimum speed to get the most distance out of your battery packs," Wesley said. "It's kind of a slow and steady type of race. You're going for maximum efficiency."
Wesley especially enjoyed the opportunity to show sponsors from all across the USA the local businesses in Somerset, who sponsored the car and demonstrating how the city of Somerset was able to make going to the event possible.
Most of all, Wesley was impressed with the students who had invested so much time in building the car and learning to operate it effectively. "Very talented group of kids. Great leadership amongst the students and their teachers as well."
Tori Smith and Lainey Barnett led the team as captains. Other Solar team member include Lucy McArthur, Grayson Fitzgerald, Nicholas Moore, Ethan Ruble, Madilynn Zimmerman, Abigail Edwards, and Mary Hawk.
