A group of 20 students from NEtaji Subhash Institute of Technology have developed a car that runs from solar energy. They are representing India with their model in South Africa Solar Challenge. Their entry also stands out as it is the cheapest model in the competition.
There are several competitions that encourage synchronisation between education system, students, industry requirements and government support. South Africa Solar Challenge is one such competition that promotes students to develop products that suffice the industry requirements and yet are innovative. It attracts participants from all over the world.
Earlier, students from a college in Bangalore had developed a similar car that run on alternative fuel technology. They used electricity as their fuel source and the car needs to be charged with electric power. This solar car has an inverted tail dragon design and meets all the parameters of the competition. It runs at a stop speed of 50kmph and can run at a stretch for 4-5 hours on fully charged batteries.
Shriram Narayanan, a third year Mechanical Engineering student, Abhisekh Monga and Ankur Gupta are group members from the team who have developed the car for this competition.
