Goals:

Promote the development of clean and renewable energies by underlining their possibilities.
Provide a friendly and challenging environment to solar vehicle technology.
Demonstrate the feasibility and give an opportunity to enhance the capabilities of those technologies.
 

Registration :

The registration is free, except for the insurance and the registration plate unless you have them already. Competitors who need it will be offered free electric refills from several grid-tied solar power plants.
Accommodation for the team members is their responsibility. However, the rally organising committee offers help to find accommodation and lifts during the rally, as well as regional and national media coverage.

The rally vehicles should follow traffic regulations and fit into the normal traffic. They will have to drive exclusively during daytime, on the defined rally route and not closer than one hour before sunset or after sunrise.

Each team has to provide a follow-up vehicle for warning and control. At some portions of the route a pathfinder vehicle will also be needed. One or two members of the rally staff will be in the follow-up or the pathfinder vehicle. The organisation may provide vehicles if necessary. This issue should be discussed with each team before registration.

There should be no other vehicle between the "prototype" and the vehicles that are accompanying it, or less than
50 meters from it except in particular cases, such as media coverage or passing.

Night care will be provided to the vehicles.
 

Insurance :

The organization of the rally is covered by an insurance, but each team must have its own insurance (at least liability) for the duration of the rally. If you do not have such an insurance, contact us at registration time. Insurance policies can be purchased from different companies for approx. 80 Euros.
 

License plates:

Temporary license plates will be delivered to the prototypes needing them for the duration of the rally. A license plate and the necessary paperwork cost approx. 60 Euros.
 
 

vehicles Specifications:

Maximum mass of the vehicle including driver(s) and full load < 1200 Kg
 

Three or four wheels vehicles will have to be equipped with:
Direction lights.
Warnings.
Stop lights.
Horn and warning lights.
Safety belt(s).
Rear view mirrors.
Helmet for two-wheels vehicles' drivers.

Vehicles will will have to pass braking and stability tests, to be allowed to the rally.

Performance required for braking:
Breaking distance at 30km/h  :15 m.
Breaking distance at 50km/h  :40 m.
Breaking distance at 70km/h  : 75 m. (If the vehicle reaches this speed)

Stability performance will be checked during a trial run.

Drivers should be able to get out of their vehicles unassisted in less than 15 seconds.

These tests will take place Friday, May 17th at he Themis solar tower (near Font Romeu), between 3 PM and 6 PM.
 
 

Energy and driving :

Source of energy on the vehicle:
- Embarked solar captors.
- Stored energy from fixed PV arrays. Solar electricity (230V 50 Hz AC) will be provided at the different stages and generated by grid-tied micro-solar power stations. The total solar output from the PV arrays dedicated to the rally is 30 kilowatt-hours per day on average. The distributed energy will be measured and taken into amount for ranking the vehicles.

Competitors should thus be equipped with appropriate chargers. They will not have to transport them in the solar vehicle.

The elements involved in energy storage, transformation, and transmission should be properly ventilated, protected and separated from the cockpit.

Batteries should not be replaced during the race except in case of failure. In this case, the replacement of a battery costs 50 points and is authorized only once. They should be easy to remove for control and for stamping seals, and be divided into no more than 4 blocks.

Four drivers can take turns for each vehicle. Onboard muscular power contribution is allowed for all types of vehicles. The person supplying this contribution should not be a high level sportsman, should not be replaced during a stage, and should be alone onboard.
 

Vehicles with 3 or 4 wheels :

Maximum onboard energy storage: 5 kWh per vehicle for the sun racers, i.e.: expressed in approx. battery weight:

Pb ? acid 125 kg.
NiCd 100kg.
NiZn 75 kg.
AgZn 40 kg.
NiMh 71 kg
Li- ion 36 kg.

For vehicles converted from standard cars, batteries must not exceed 25% of the total weight.
 

  2-wheel vehicles :

Maximum weight of the vehicle: 75Kg.

Maximum energy storage: 2 kWh.
 
 

Sponsors :

Competitors are free to choose their own sponsors. However, there should not be brands of tobacco or alcoholic drinks, nor religious or political propaganda in sight on vehicles, stands or persons involved with the rally.
 
 

Classifications:

Classifications will be separately established for every category :

1 - " sunracers " i.e. embarked PV as an exclusive source of energy.

2 - hybrid solar vehicles: embarked PV + refill at the different stages.

3 - Converted "standard" vehicles.

4 - Two wheels.
 

Within a given vehicle category, points will be separately accounted for three criteria : reliability, safety / handiness, performance.

The final classification for every category will take into account the rank by criteria. All the track events are optional, except the safety tests .
 
 

Performance points awarded for reliability:

1 point lost per minute of immobilization due to a problem relevant to the vehicle itself or to its team.

Stopping in a dangerous zone, or driving dangerously can disqualify a team for the stage.

In case of difficulty in negotiating a slope or a portion of stage: towing costs 10 points. Pushing the vehicle is considered as towing. The jury will make sure that there is no refill of the vehicle’s energy storage  due to the push. The 10 points penalty is only given once if towing or pushing is repeated several times in the same ramp.

In case of stopping en route for any cause, if a competitor decides not to continue the stage, load his vehicle on his trailer, then transport it to the finish, he will not be penalized.

Punctuality at the start: every minute of delay at the start due to competitors costs 1 point.

Passing the half way line of a stage awards 10 points. Passing the finish line in every stage gives 20 points. Participation to the parade in the Cité de l'Espace (gathering all the vehicles) gives 20 points.
 

Performance points for safety / handling:

Handling test: 20 points won for driving successfully through a road test marked out by cones on a closed circuit measuring approximately 300 meters.

Optional test: 10 points won for vehicles passing under artificial rain (this test will be organized only if it is not already raining and if there is enough volunteer competitors). Speed limit for this test: 15 km/h.
 

Performance points for  Generator / Engine / Storage:

1 point won by kilometer on the route (same conditions as for reliability).

Towing or pushing costs 10 points (same conditions as for reliability).

1 point won for every  10 meter altitude gain on the rally route.

1 kWh of energy supplied for refill (from solar power stations) costs 5 points.

Refill time during a stage (in authorized refill zones) is recorded and costs 10 points per hour. Before the start and after the arrival, the time of refill is not taken into account, but kWh always are.

Except for the safety tests, no track event in mandatory.
 

Rewards:

Classification will be by category. There will be prizes in relation to solar energy and its uses. The financial value of the prizes will depend on our level of sponsorship.

All participants will be offered a “South-Western” French meal at arrival.

The jury is composed of engineer students from the Engineering School ENSEEIHT, members of the association Phebus Ariège, executives at CNRS and representatives of local collectivities including Cité de L'espace.
 

If there is a disagreement concerning the interpretation of the regulations, the final decision is given by the jury.
 
 

Contacts :

Laurent Koechlin
Tel : 00 33 5 61 76 75 91 (soir)
Tel : 00 33 5 61 33 28 87 (hb)

Stéphan ASTIER
INPT-ENSEEIHT-LEEI UMR CNRS N°5828
2, rue Charles Camichel
31000 Toulouse
labo            05 61 58 83 59
standard        05 61 58 82 00
fax     labo    05 61 63 88 75

and amongthe N7 studients group
Aurélien Sceaux :
Tel: (33) 6 70 57 11 50

 Stéphane LOUËR: