Solar Energy
Having Fun in the Sun
A group of South African
students are having fun in the
sun, and we are all going to
benefit from it. This ray of hope
comes from the University
of Johannesburg (UJ) Solar
Project, and its participation in
the 2014 South African Solar
Challenge.
A
team of young engineers from
the Faculty of Engineering and
the Built Environment (FEBE)
at UJ, is feverishly putting the final
touches to iLanga II, a prototype solar
vehicle developed in conjunction with
the Resolution Circle, which is an
institution created by the university to be
a specialised technology research and
develop centre, and to be a catalyst for the
convergence of academia and industry. Professor William Clarke,
CEO of the Resolution Circle, says that “our job is to actualise
creative potential, to develop it, to nurture it, to shape it, to direct
it, and to give it every opportunity to be realised in a way that
would ultimately make a real difference to the world we live in”. The
iLanga II is a real life example of how this creative process works.
The team has built one of the smallest solar cars in the world
with some of the best technology available, spiced up with some
radical electrical and mechanical designs, and the use of ultralightweight parts in the construction of
the suspension and battery pack.
The iLanga II also meets the objectives
of the Solar Challenge, which is to
generate interest in renewable energy
technologies, and to create electric
vehicles that rely entirely on energy from
the sun and kinetic energy recovered
from the vehicle itself. The UJ team aims
to win the 2014 Solar Challenge, and to
use it as a springboard for participation
in the World Solar Challenge, which
will be hosted in Australia in 2015.
With its exceptional geographical
location, South Africa is well positioned
to become a world leader in alternative
energy applications and innovation,
and the UJ Solar Project is an ideal
way to realise this potential, because
it encourages a pipeline that supplies
the necessary skills base to support
the New Growth Path and the National
Development Plan, and the Solar
➲ The team at the launch of the Ilanga II
Challenge allows it to leverage its message through national
engagement with schools, universities and industry, aligned with
the UJ Energy Movement’s goals of bridging the skills shortage
gap with its programmes and initiatives. And the fun in the sun
is reaping benefits, with the project having expanded to include
input and collaboration between undergraduate and postgraduate
students from the Engineering Science, Industrial Design, Logistics
and Marketing Departments at UJ.
Professor Clarke told aBr at the launch
of the Ilanga II at the UJ Auditorium
at its Kingsway Campus on 5 August
2014, that he does not expec B