The CUHK solar car team (The CUE) of CUHK’s Faculty of Engineering joined the ‘New Energy New Generation’ Solar Car Competition held at Hong Kong Science Park on 10 January and won the Renewable Energy Capture & Conversion Efficiency Award with a solar car they designed.

The CUE, comprising students of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Energy Engineering, Electronic Engineering and Computer Science led by Prof. Ren Wei, competed as one of eight teams from various universities in Hong Kong. The team took a hands-on approach to all tasks, from the production of car chassis prototype, testing of the components, garage construction, car design, car moulding and polishing, assembly and fitting of solar panels, the entire process taking around five months.

Designed to run entirely on clean, renewable solar power, the car is equipped with four sets of solar panels that the team had carefully selected from seven highly efficient varieties of solar panels and tested under different weather conditions. The car shape was designed so that when parked, the car can ‘transform’ from its streamlined shape to a new shape that enables extension of its solar panels, maximizing their efficiency in solar energy capture. The design was awarded Renewable Energy Capture & Conversion Efficiency Award for capturing the most solar energy (compared to other teams’ designs) within a set period of time.

The car design is also notable for its user-friendliness, as it can fit into a standard parking space and the driver can enter from the side of the car (unlike many other models that require entry from the top of the car).

About the ‘New Energy New Generation’ Solar Car Competition