Johannesburg - Solar panels? Check. Ion batteries? Check. 3D printer for spares? Check. A group of u...

1. Roadtripping through Africa in a solar-powered car
Johannesburg - Solar panels? Check. Ion batteries? Check. 3D printer for spares? Check. A group of
university students and lecturers are on a road trip of a different kind as they travel over 4 000km to
test out their solar powered car the Ilanga II fuelled on nothing but good old sunshine.
"It can do up to 140km/h," says Nickey Janse van Rensburg, who lectures mechanical engineering at
the University of Johannesburg's Energy Movement lab.
"Because we don't have a lot of sun today we are doing 90km/h,'' she said from the convoy snaking
toward the Northern Cape town of Kimberley to show off the vehicle named after the Zulu word for
sun.
And every time they stop, they draw a crowd of people keen to see what can be done by a group of
bright sparks looking for clean green alternatives.
Resembling a cross between a space pod and a yacht, the aerodynamic lines of the orange and white
Ilanga II draws delighted crowds wherever she pulls up. And that is exactly what the university
wants - for people in the towns and rural villages along the route to see how green technology can
be used in every day life.
Says Janse van Rensburg, the Ilanga II could even be plugged into a wall like a cellphone, if needed,
to charge.
The Solar Car Project promotes the study and development of efficient energy use, environmental
awareness, energy management and innovative engineering.
On Thursday the residents of Klerksdorp who arrived with their children at the team's leg-stretching
and system-tweaking stop at the Mitsubishi garage were intrigued by what they saw. Her "engine" is
300 lithium ion batteries which work almost like cellphone batteries, and almost 1 000 business
card-sized thin solar panels.
Along the route, even mayors have come out to welcome the team which is happy to explain how
everything works and tell people about other ways of using "green" technology in their every day
life.
And of course, everyone wants to see some laps and they are not disappointed. And then it's go time
again.
Mars Rover

2. Warren Hurter, engineering project manager at the
university's manufacturing research centre, is one of
the three drivers taking turns on the test run.
He explains that the solar panels on top of the vehicle
convert the energy from the sun into power in the
battery packs.
The solar panels are similar to the solar cards that
powered the Mars Rover which wheeled around the red planet looking for signs of water activity, its
solar panel "wings" capturing enough energy during the four-hour Mars day to enable it to explore,
and communicate with the team on Earth.
The Ilanga II's tool box is a 3D printer which will be used to replace parts it might need for running
repairs. The 3D printer has already produced the steering interface, the buttons, the battery holder
and the brackets for the roof panel.
"We haven't needed to use it as yet," said Hurter.
They have had a small suspension problem so far, and when they started their journey in
Johannesburg the telemetry system which measures the car's performance was playing up.
"But that's all part of the experience," says Hurter who says he was the kid who played with Lego
and pulled things apart to spend hours figuring out how to put it all back together again.
Camping along the way they have a support team which stays up until late making adjustments to
the vehicle.
The Ilanga II is their third solar-powered car after the Ilanga and the Ilanga 1. Their team hopes to
take her to next year's Sasol Solar Car Challenge where the Ilanga 1.1 scooped the Technology and
Innovation Award previously. Local and international solar car developers compete in that race
between Pretoria and Cape Town as part of their work on improving the technology and to share
ideas.
The race to find energy efficient alternatives has already given rise to the electric hybrids already on
the consumer market.
Because the Ilanga II is built around efficiency, it only takes one driver. The team scanned the shape
of one of the drivers, placed it into the vehicle and built it around his shape. So only drivers with his
shape will fit into her.
Power pumps
To complement the team's efforts, they have partnered with Prof Vivian Alberts at PTiP Innovations,
who has developed wholly local (and internationally patented) thin film photovoltaic technology,
which they hope to pilot in rural communities in the near future.

3. Hurter says the car does not have any luxuries apart from indicators and headlights. The only radio
is the two-way radio the team uses to communicate. It is a bit noisy on the inside because it does not
have the sound padding that cars usually have, but from the outside, it is very quiet, and has no
emissions.
The project has sponsorship from companies such as Eskom and Siemens, and a support convoy
provided by Mitsubishi which also wants the crew to log their vehicles' fuel efficiency for its own
studies.
And when will be able drive one? Not in the near future. The Ilanga II Solar Car Project is not being
built for sale, but for now is being used to research and develop sustainable and green engineering
that can be used in the real world.
They already have plans to introduce the technology to power village pumps.
Spectators can look forward to seeing Ilanga II at pit stops and lectures along its route which will
include a trip through Namibia and Botswana.
Her itinerary is: Friday, June 19: Kimberley - Upington (Public Lecture)
Saturday, June 20: (Upington) - Hakskeen Pan - Rietfontein Border Control - KeetmansHoop
Sunday, June 21: Keetmanshoop - Mariental - Rehoboth
Monday, June 22: Rehoboth - Windhoek (Public Lecture)
Tuesday, June 23: Windhoek- Swakopmund - Walvis Bay
Wednesday, June 24: Walvis Bay - Swakopmund
Thursday, June 25: Swakopmund - Windhoek - Buitepos
Friday, June 26: Buitepos - Kang
Saturday, June 27: Kang - Sekoma - Kanye - Gaborone
Sunday, June 28: Gaborone Day (Public Lecture)
Monday, June 29: Gaborone - UJ Solar Lab.
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