Our Crowdfunding Groups
We wish to compete in the American Solar Challenge 2020 with our first car, ZotSun, but we need your support to make it happen! Help us raise $15,000 so that we can purchase the materials necessary to build a prototype and the final production car.
UCI SolEaters
Welcome to the UCI Solar Car ZotFunder page! The team would like to thank you for all the help that you provide, even if you are making a small contribution or even sharing our page on social media. All the work we do and materials we receive wouldn't be possible without you. We hope you enjoy going over everything that our team has to offer and we hope you can help us build a more sustainable tomorrow!
Originating from the World Solar Challenge (WSC) that took place 30 years ago in Australia, The American Solar Challenge (ASC) is a spinoff started by GM in 1990. GM encouraged collegiate teams to design and build a solar powered vehicle, followed by a series of one-day stages along a predetermined route. In 2001, The Innovators Educational Foundation took over sponsorship of the event, and with that came an exciting new format, including multi-day stages, higher mileages, and no rest days. Race routes have varied over the years, including Historic Route 66 and a cross-country route from Texas to Canada.
In addition to the cross-country rally, teams must pass scrutineering inspections, and complete a predetermined number of laps on the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) race track. Upon completing FSGP, teams are set free to compete in ASC, an 8-day, 2,000-mile cross-country endurance rally across North America.
The Team
Headed by Project Manager, Lizette Nguyen, our team is now comprised of 30 college students from a variety of disciplines. The UCI SolarCar project has given us all the opportunity to work together and build something innovative. Within the past year, the Mechanical Team has diligently worked to complete the car's structural design, and this year will focus on manufacturing the design which is made possible through your kind donations. The Electrical Team has finished their research and design phase for the electrical system. This year they will test the different systems and utilize only the best made accessible through funding. Every individual on our team is driven by an aptitude to learn and apply, so we truly appreciate any helping hands that will lead to our hands-on experience.
ZotSun
The team first started as a side project in the non-profit organization, Engineers for a Sustainable World. As more and more students signed on, Solar Car grew to become its own Senior Design Project within the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Irvine.
Since the Solar Car teams conception, the Mechanical Team has focused on designing a high performance, lightweight solar powered car. We created an initial design, and have begun the manufacturing process. Along the way, we have encountered a number of issues and areas to improve on, but our engineers are working hard to resolve them. We hope to redesign the car in the coming quarters, learning from the work we have made on our prototype car, to make a car ready to race in the ASC.
The Electrical Team has been designing the car's powertrain, user interface, and the solar array. Due to the rigorous design requirements that must be met, these projects aren't expected to be completed until the fall season. Along the way, we will be constructing various subsystems for our test car that will ultimately be applied to the final design.
Our beautiful, finished product will be a lightweight, aerodynamic automobile that is able to drive halfway across the country only fueled by the power of the sun. Go ZotSun!
Social Media:
Your generous donation will provide us with the funds necessary to purchase materials to build our solar car. By supporting our project, you are enabling a team of aspiring engineers to develop innovations and ultimately teach the importance of renewable technology and sustainable transportation in the community!
A donation of this amount will allow us to buy a solar cell! We need lots of these, so thank you!
This donation is equivalent to the cost of three lithium battery cells. Thanks for the support!
A donation of this amount will allow us to purchase two Arduino microcontrollers for our telemetry team. Thank you!
With a contribution of this size, we will be able to purchase our LCD monitor and radio communication system for the driver! Thank you!
This donation is equivalent to the cost of a very important piece of equipment—a brake pedal! Thanks for your support!
With $250, we will be able to purchase the rack and pinion for ZotSun’s steering system. Thank you!
Wow! $500 will fund one high performance racing shock. Thank you for your support!
