Past Student Competitions
The University of Texas at Austin has participated in several
solar/renewable energy related activities. Past student participation in
competitions which were not part of an academic or research
program include:
Solar Car Races:
In 1990 the University of Texas at Austin's
solar powered automobile, "Texas Native Sun," competed in the first major
solar car race in the United States, the GM Sunrayce USA, a sixteen hundred
mile race from Florida to Michigan. The following year "Texas Native Sun"
finished in second place in the California Clean Air Race (CalCAR), a seven hundred
mile route from Sacramento, California to Los Angeles. The University also
participated in the eleven hundred mile Sunrayce '93 from Dallas, Texas to
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Renewable Energy Competitions:
University of Texas at Austin students participated in two other national
competitions: Student Competition on Relevant Engineering/ Energy
Resource Alternatives I (1974-1975), and
Student Competition on Relevant Engineering/ Energy Resource Alternatives II
(1977). The '74-'75 project was a
solar powered absorption air conditioning system which received the " system
output" award. The 1977 project was a solar powered electric generation
system, including an array of concentrating track collectors, which received
the " innovation" award.