It takes a village to race a solar car. Behind the apparent engineering challenges, the project also demands a well-oiled team to support it. This year, I have seen the team step up in every way to meet this challenge. It is inspiring to see brand new members gain confidence and the desire to take […]
With the conclusion of school for summer break and the clock ticking down for the Solar Car Challenge, the last preparations have begun for our trip to Texas. The race is now just 16 days away with only 10 days until our car departs from Seattle on its long trailer ride to Fort Worth, Texas. […]
With the Solar Car Challenge growing closer by the day, the RAHS Green Energy Team is working hard to complete some of the biggest projects of the season; everyone is busy with something. The list of tasks we need to complete ranges from solar panel construction all the way to motor controller testing. One of […]
A few weeks ago, the Solar Car Challenge announced that the 2022 challenge would be transitioning away from a road race to closed-track race at a past venue, Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). While we were all a little disappointed in not being able to compete in a new format, we are still excited to go […]
After our triumphant victory at Texas Motor Speedway, our mentor, Dr. Alain Semet thought it would be a good idea to take our car, La Cucaracha, to a local car show to connect with the community and display our hard work. Over the roars of the engines from the other cars, we explained our uniquely […]
As we rev up for the 2021-2022 season, Marva Semet turns the page with a few final words. Marva is one of our biggest supporters, and wife of our Mentor Dr. Alain Semet. Not many would host a bunch of unknown high school students in their garage for over a year just to work on […]
Waking up at 5:45 a.m. is never easy. But especially for a group of highschoolers who have fought jet lag, the intense Texas heat, and the accumulating fatigue after a week of solar car racing. Usually, we were practically dragging each other out of bed to arrive at the speedway on time, yet Race Day […]
Day 3 of racing threw many challenges at the team. The team arrived at the Texas Motor Speedway at opening time (6am) in order to have the most possible time to charge the panels before racing. Shortly after moving the car out of the garage and set up to charge, we were approached by a […]
One of our horns literally blew out yesterday — so we’re definitely on the right track. (Quick rule clarification for our viewers not familiar with the race rules: solar cars racing on the Texas Motor Speedway are required to sound their horn when they pass a slower car.) Yeah. We were passing so often on […]
Race Day One is officially done! Over the course of the day, we performed more than 100 laps, and achieved a top speed of fifty-three miles per hour during the later hours of the race. The day’s success was met with multiple high-fives and passionate cheers from behind the pit wall. After the official lap […]
