Dawn & I had the great pleasure of attending the Upper Valley Solar Sprint today in Lebanon, NH. Students from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College organized this event as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) Car Competitions. Middle School teams from the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire worked to design and build solar cars to compete in race and design categories.


The students designed their solar cars based on specific criteria and rules. For example, the motor and solar panel were purchased and had to be used in the car without modification while the rest of the vehicle could be made from any other materials. The objective was to build a solar car that raced on a 20 meter racecourse using the sun as its only source of power.


The students who raced their solar cars today did a fantastic job and had some very impressive (and fast) cars! The winners are going on to the Northeast Junior Solar Sprint Championship on June 13th in Springfield, MA. Nice job everyone!