Atlantic Canada’s First Solar Electric Vehicle Student Team 2023-24

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Vision

Founded in 2021, Dalhousie Solar Car Team (DalSol) designs, builds and races a solar-powered electric vehicle. Our 80-member team is comprised of students from Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Chemical, Environmental, Industrial Engineering and Computer Science who share a passion for climate solutions.

The Formula Sun Grand Prix is an annual closed-track event that attracts student teams from post-secondary institutions across North America. Racing at FSGP has been our dream since day 1 and with hard work, effort and perseverance, our solar car NOVA made its debut this year!

Our Solar Car's debut at FSGP in July 2023!

Looking ahead to 2024, we intend to compete in the American Solar Challenge, a bi-annual endurance rally across multiple states in the US. Please check out our Updates tab for details regarding our new project cycle.

To see what our team worked on last year, you can visit our previous project page here.

Story

Over the past 2.5 years, the project has had over 80+ members contribute to our car to date. Everyone brings something to the table, and we believe that the unique backgrounds and talents is what makes DalSol.

Our team is incredibly proud to have represented Atlantic Canada this FSGP in Kansas from June 27th to July 2nd. Even with the smallest race crew there, we achieved 3rd overall in Scrutineering and 4th in the SOV (single-occupant vehicle) class after completing 135 laps, totaling over 543 kilometers, ultimately exceeding our own expectations. We also got awarded “Best New Scrutineering Team”!

However, we could not have done it alone. Sponsors are integral to our success; without support from the community, this achievement would not be possible. Both monetary contributions and in-kind donations, expertise and advice helped us reach significant milestones and makes solar racing all it is worth!

Strategy

Our mission is to produce doers of electric vehicle development and to excite the public about sustainable transportation and promote the practicality of renewable energy.

Solar car team alumni around the world are highly desired by tech companies, manufacturing, consulting, and automotive giants due to sheer exposure and depths of experience they gain from building a solar car and working in a multidisciplinary group with time and financial constraints.

Designing and building a solar car requires a wide range of real-life engineering skills, both technical and non-technical. Since the beginning, the team has evolved as a unique group of its own that allows students to extend their education far beyond traditional classroom learning.

Impact

Our first ever race at FSGP 2023 was a success and showed the competition what Dalhousie students can achieve. Next year, the team’s main goal is to build a new solar array. This allows for greater efficiency to gain a competitive edge to more effectively charge our battery pack. The team also plans to design and build a new set of wheels, make improvements to the brakes, motor, and electrical controls system. Funding will be used to cover materials for these developments and testing of the car. Additionally, race registration for both FSGP and ASC make up a significant portion of project expenses, as well as associated travel expenses and logistics (i.e., accommodations, uniforms, data plans, etc.). We also plan on hosting outreach events and workshops throughout the year to inspire and encourage those that are interested in seeing what we do!

We are counting on your support to help make DalSol’s journey long-lasting so that we can pave the way for students that share the mindset of building solar-powered EVs for a better future. We have gained a whole new set of experiences so far, and we want to make this a reality for generations to come.

Your support will be essential in allowing us to attend and compete in FSGP and ASC 2024 to represent Atlantic Canada’s Solar Electric Vehicle Student Team.

To stay up to date on our work, please follow along on our Instagram and LinkedIn!

All-team meeting is every Wednesday 7pm in the Heavy Prototyping Lab in Emera IDEA Building, Sexton Campus. Sub-team work sessions occur ad-hoc basis throughout the week. Please feel free to come visit our shop and see our work!

If you would like more information about this campaign please reach out to Venna Penney at venna.penney@dal.ca. To mail a cheque please send to the Office of Advancement, 6389 Coburg Road, PO Box 15000, Halifax, NS B3H 2A5.

The Team

Gina Park

Founder (Electrical Engineering, Final Year)

Gina founded Dalhousie Solar Car Team in 2021 and led the team to successfully race at the 2023 Formula Sun Grand Prix. She has overseen the development of the team’s first car NOVA and its subsystems from 2021 to 2023.

Noah Bugden

Team Lead (Mechanical Engineering, Year 2)

Noah oversees and leads subsystem functions: Mechanical, Electrical, Battery and Operations. Currently, he is focusing on the electric motor and setting controller parameters. Overall, he makes sure that our solar car NOVA is technically developed, and the team is on track to be race ready for FSGP 2024!

Michelle Yee

Operations Manager, Outgoing (Electrical Engineering, Final Year)

Michelle manages the team’s finances, funding applications, and ProjectDal updates, to name a few. She also corresponds with administration and serves DSU-related tasks, such as society ratification and record keeping.

August Holder

Social Media & Branding Director (Environmental Engineering, Year 2)

August updates the community running all our social media platforms and keeps team spirits high by showcasing creativity through her branding ideas. You can always find her chocolate chip cookies at any DalSol bake sale!

Kate Arsenault

Electrical Support & Fundraising Lead (Electrical Engineering, Year 4)

Kate’s responsibilities include managing and organizing bake sales, pancake sales, and other fundraising activities. She has also previously worked on the solar array wiring and is currently designing PCBs for our high voltage electrical box.

Grant MacCormack

Mechanical Co-lead (Mechanical Engineering, Year 3)

Grant is currently working on design and analysis for the roll cage with specialization in Finite Element Analysis (FEA). His future projects include creating a CAD model of the existing car and carbon fibre composite aerodynamic shells.

Arshvir Singh

Mechanical Co-lead (Mechanical Engineering, Year 4)

Arsh does technical documentation and designs various components with a focus on FEA simulations and CAD modeling. He has worked closely with the battery management system (BMS) and some of his tasks for this cycle include the parking brake and solar array.

Owen Stuttard

Battery Lead, Outgoing (Electrical Engineering, Final Year)

Owen directed the battery pack design and testing, including measuring their parameters and battery cycling as part of cell characterization. Lately, he has been reviewing internal wiring of the car in preparation for upgrades and improvements to the electrical system.

Joelle Korkomaz

Mechanical Support (Mechanical Engineering, Year 2)

Joelle is currently working on the braking system for the car. This past summer, she supported the array rewiring and worked on the brake lines, as well as many logistical items leading up to the race! In the near future, she will help design and construct the new array.

Sarvang Dave

Webmaster (Applied Computer Science – Masters, Final Year)

Sarvang is responsible for designing, managing and maintaining the web presence. He works with the team to make sure that the DalSol website and all its information is up to date and easily accessible.

Updates

A Couple of Months Away!

May 21, 2024

With less than two months from the competition, the shop is getting busy! Progress has been ongoing for various components and subsystems, meeting some big milestones before the race:

- Revisions and additions to last year’s battery pack

- Designed, built and tested new battery charger, and integrated it with BMS and battery pack

- Working on integrating new motor controller to get it up and running in the next few weeks

- Designed, and currently populating and testing various PCBs for light controls

- Designed a new canopy that will be manufactured in the coming weeks

- Designed and fabricated new front brake rotors

- Completed design and manufactured new roll cage; assembly and final welding to be done soon

Our team has given several presentations and shop tours over the past few months, aligning with our goal to inspire young minds and promote renewable energy within the community. Please check out Engineers NS’ recent Summer release of The Engineer to learn more about our project and mission!

Halfway Mark

February 16, 2024

A lot of tasks have been underway during the first half of our project cycle:

· Many mechanical configurations and improvements have started. A new brake rotor is being prototyped and will be machined soon. Our roll cage design is also being finalised along with the FEA studies.

· With our new solar cells and array design, we are ready to start configuring the assembly of our array! Encapsulation and testing will be happening in the following months.

· A new motor controller has come in and will be integrated into the vehicle soon. Our new battery charger will be hooked up to the battery pack, and our high voltage wiring diagram is almost complete.

· Our team has grown to over double since our last project cycle. We’re happy to see more students excited about this project as much as we are! This also means more ideas, collaboration, and spirit.

· Greater interaction with our community shows impact. Our following across our social media platforms has collectively increased by more than 30% since September 2023.

· New and upcoming events are being planned and we’re excited to share more information about them in the near future. Stay tuned for more details!

New Project Cycle 2023-2024

August 26, 2023

Thank you to everyone for making our first project cycle as successful as it was. It is our belief that the community fosters growth within DalSol and brings the motivation, rapport and resilience that forms victories both in the shop and at the track. As we mark one down in history, we start a new chapter that we hope you continue to follow!

We are beginning with a new goal of 35k for the 2023-2024 cycle. Our main initiatives this year are to:

Technical Objectives

• Build a new solar array; greater efficiency means more effectively charging our battery pack.

• Create a new shell for the solar array.

• Create a whole CAD model of the car.

• Design a new roll cage and fairings for the wheels.

• Make improvements to the brakes, motor, and electrical controls system.

Operations

• More community events to promote the practicality of solar energy and renewable resources.

• Make students cognizant of opportunities they can pursue in post-secondary and create awareness of ongoing projects in industry through partnerships and sponsors.

• Establish an improved plan and timeline to strategize outreach, grow our social media presence and increase public exposure.

• More resources to incentivize recruitment and hold team activities to encourage morale and team development to celebrate project milestones.

This year, we wish to participate in both FSGP and ASC 2024 to showcase how well we can prepare our car to perform at the multi-day, cross-country endurance event which will span over 3000km. This means that the design, build and development, and testing phases are key and significant stages of our process, requiring various supplies and equipment to achieve our vision. Funding will bring us the greater support that is needed to check off our list and even let us extend beyond it. With your help, we can make our outcome better than ever.

Please check out the “Impact” section of our bio to find out how your contribution makes the difference. Any sponsorship, media or general inquiries can be directed to solarcar@dal.ca. Cheers to another year of solar racing!

Thank you to our supporters!

July 18, 2023

We want to express our utmost gratitude for your contribution to the Dalhousie Solar Car Team. As you may have heard, we started off as a small group of engineering students in February 2021, with the dream to innovate high in-demand electric vehicles. Not only does this require hard work, dedication and many hours in the shop, but it is the minds and talents of our interdisciplinary team that come together to create a sense of togetherness and group harmony for success.

Donations have given us the tools and materials necessary for the construction and development of our car, NOVA. We must admit, funding has been a big obstacle, and it is never easy for any newly formed team; there is an element of trust that has to be established between us and the community, and you have given us hope every step of the way. That being said, your support has brought morale and created the opportunity for DalSol to participate in Formula Sun Grand Prix 2023, an annual closed-track event that attracts solar car teams across North America, marking ourselves in history as the first ever Atlantic Canadian solar car team to attend!

At FSGP, we pursued solar racing amongst many post-secondary institutions and showcased our engineering capabilities. Despite having the smallest race crew of only six members, we impressed the competition and performed even beyond our own expectations. We blew through Scrutineering by placing 3rd overall and during the track event, completed 135 laps, counting over 335 miles, and came 4th in the SOV (single-occupant vehicle) class. We were also awarded "Best New Scrutineering Team"!

Best New Scrutineering Team!

Check out our Instagram and Linkedin to find more media recap and also see detailed results via the American Solar Challenge website.

Lastly, note that our projectDal fundraiser is still open for donations! We are in the process of collecting funds to help wrap up this year and start the next project cycle strong. Please spread the word with family, friends and anyone that you know wishes to support our solar car journey!

Sending you warmest sun-ergy,

Dalhousie Solar Car Team

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Supporters

Claudia De Fuentes - Supporter from 2022/23

This is an exceptional initiative run by students, it shows a truly entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. Maya and Sarah Blair will be happy to see the success of this team and this initiative

Heidi Belcourt - Supporter from 2022/23

To fund the young minds in creating a healthy environment for future generations!

Bill Holtby - Supporter from 2022/23

As a mentor and sponsor for several years of FIRST Robotics (FRC) and FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams I have a strong appreciation for the commitment, co-operation and inter-disciplinary skills required to bring these projects to completion.

Dianne Piaskoski - Supporter from 2022/23

I loved hearing about your project and goals on CTV news. You are all young, enthusiastic, and are working hard on an important project. You deserve to participate at the competition in Kansas. I hope you get there and "bonne chance" if you do!