Students unveil solar car

Kristy Mangos Arizona Daily Wildcat Mechanical engineering seniors Ron Grife (right) and Colin OÕConnor help lift and inspect the interior of the solar car that the UA student engineering group Daedalus built for Sunrayce 99. The 1,300-mile race from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Fla. will be held from June 20-29.

For the past two years, the Daedalus Solar Car Team - a group of UA science and engineering students - have been busy designing, fundraising and building a sleek, low-riding vehicle powered only by the sun.

Ray Ramadorai, an electrical and computer engineering senior, helped put the team together.

"A friend and I ditched class for a day and decided what to do with our lives and this is what we came up with," he said.

The teardrop-shaped car stands less than 4 feet high and is more than 15 feet long. The team's entire vehicle weighs a little more than 800 pounds.

"You want a vehicle that is very, very aerodynamic and very light," Ramadorai said.

The top of the ruby-colored vehicle is covered with black solar cells, 726 of them in all. On a sunny day, they can give the car's electric motor 1,000 watts of energy - about the same amount of power as the average hairdryer, Ramadorai said.

But the average hairdryer doesn't have a top speed of 75 mph.

Mechanical engineering senior Ron Grife drove the car around the UA Mall Friday, bouncing along on the grass and sidewalks with apparent ease.

Nine 12-volt batteries, powered up on sunnier days, kept him going despite the raindrops spattering on the low dome.

Because of the car's low design, the drivers seat is sharply angled.

"It's kind of like being in a recliner," Grife said " With the headrest it's pretty comfortable. You can sleep in there."

Grife and his fellow driver, computer engineering freshman Chani Johnson, hope to race against more than 40 other solar cars this June.

The Sunrayce 99 competition will pit college teams from across North America against each other in a 1,300-mile marathon from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Fla.

The summer event is the fifth Sunrayce, but the first where the University of Arizona may be represented.

The Daedalus team, however, still has to raise about $17,000 for a trailer to carry the car and team expenses while at the race, Ramadorai said.

Many local corporations already donated money to help build the $80,000 vehicle, he said. Ramadorai added that he hopes corporations will give additional funds to get the car to the race.

Team members have also talked with UA President Peter Likins in hopes of getting university funds, he said.