Solar Race Car Kits

Start your sun and get ready to race!

MOSES LAKE - Grant County fifth graders raced solar cars, cooked food in solar ovens and learned about alternative energy sources during the third annual Solar Car Race Day at the Grant County Fairgrounds.

"It's kind of like a little, mini Pacific Science Center," said Kate Lindholm, elementary science coach for the Moses Lake School District.

REC Silicon purchased the kits for the solar cars, which the students received a week before the event, said Lindholm. The students constructed the cars in their classrooms and tested them to see what kinds of adjustments would make them faster.

Gabi Isaak finished her solar car quickly so she could decorate it, she said. She painted it, used buttons for wheels and spelled her name out with stickers. But when the races started, she learned that big and flashy isn't always better when it comes to the car's performance.

"The simplest thing goes the fastest," she said. "It doesn't have to be really fancy to be the best, it can be simple." 

Her car didn't have much luck against competitors, but the car she was racing for her friend Christopher Guttormsen, who wasn't able to attend the race, won consistently, she said.

In addition to the solar car race, students rotated through six other stations that taught them about alternative energy.

Students cooked hot dogs in a solar oven at one station, constructed pinwheels in another and observed a model windmill made of water bottles cut in half.

Students from Moses Lake High School ran some of the activity stations for the younger students. Senior Victor Vargas and junior Bryton Redal used tubs filled with water with clay partitions to demonstrate concepts relating to dams and reservoirs. 

"It's an enjoyable experience," said Vargas.

Redal was excited for the kids. He would have enjoyed participating in these kinds of activities when he was in fifth grade, he said.

"It's been fun teaching the kids and letting them know about this," he said, "I'm more of a hands-on type, so it's fun seeing them do the kind of stuff I would like to do."

"We started the solar races in 2005," said Lon Topaz, global commodity manager/energy for REC Silicon, who spoke to students about REC's role in renewable energy. "I actually worked for the PUD at that point and we had a guy who's since retired, but his name was Jim Frank." 

Frank came up with the idea to use the solar car races to teach children about energy.

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ZOOOOOOMM! Super Solar Racing Car has surprising speed. In fact, you might catch yourself saying, Woo Wee that little sucker must be super charged with one of those fancy high performance engines. If you did, in fact, think such a thought, you are partly correct. One source of such power is derived from the suns powerful rays of light. Thank goodness you can control this speedster from any dangerous mishaps by shielding its power source and immediately depressing its brakes to stop. Super Solar Racing Car is easy to assemble and demonstrates alternative energy principles. No batteries and tools required and less than a dozen parts to assemble. Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Proceedings of FORUM 2001, Solar energy: the power to choose, Washington, D.C., April 21-25, 2001 : including proceedings of ASES Annual Conference, proceedings of 26th National Passive Solar Conference

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