FAQ's

The Sasol Solar Challenge is open to school, university and private teams from South Africa and abroad. Entries for the 2020 event will open in early 2019

Entries for the 2020 Sasol Solar Challenge are currently closed. To enquire about entering future challenges, please contact Rycardo Simoes Alves at teamdesk@solarchallenge.org.za or on +27 72 777 5577.

  • The Sasol Solar Challenge features three separate classes of competition.
  • The Challenger Class is Solar vehicles that are designed for optimal efficiency and performance, they carry one driver only.
  • The Adventure Class is non-competitive and allows cars built for previous editions of the event to run again, usually with new team members.
  • The Cruiser Class is designed for practicality, and to provide a forum to further demonstrate advanced technologies in personal transport opportunities. 

Daily accommodation is available to all teams during the event, and will typically be camping space with facilities. Teams are responsible for their own breakfast and lunch arrangements, and lunch can be purchased at control stops. The organisers aim to supply dinner at all overnight stops. If no dinner arrangements are made, teams will be notified well in advance. Accommodation will be supplied from the first day until the last day of the event.

The Award Ceremony is free of charge for all team members. Additional arrangements will have to be made with the organizing team for sponsors and family members.

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly via photovoltaic (PV) cells, or indirectly via concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. The solar technology used in the Sasol Solar Challenge is PV.

In a PV cell, the sunlight puts electrons in movement to directly produce electricity. The main component of the PV cell is the semiconductor. The electrons in the semiconductor are charged by sunlight and move to their corresponding electrode – producing an electrical current. CSP systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam that heats up molten salt to create steam to drive a turbine that produces electrical power.

Solar power is clean and renewable, and rapid advances in technology are driving down costs too. 

The possibilities of solar power are endless, from powering small appliances, to feeding the national grid. This is how major cities are “Going Greene”

South Africa boasts an abundance of sunlight and open space, and is perfectly suited to embrace solar technology.