2023 Synergy Schools Solar Challenge Racing Kicks Off

Hundreds of students across Western Australia are participating in the 2023 Synergy Schools Solar Challenge – learning important skills while having a bit of fun with tiny solar-electric cars.

A joint initiative between Synergy and the Science Teachers’ Association of WA (STAWA), the Challenge involves students building and tweaking solar-powered cars that they then race against each other. There’s a strong science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) aspect to the activity.

“The Synergy Schools Solar Challenge offers a unique opportunity for young minds to build STEM skills and knowledge by learning about solar energy, battery technology and engineering principles,” said Synergy Chief Executive Officer, David Fyfe. “We hope to inspire and educate our future energy leaders through the Challenge to support a more sustainable future for all Western Australians.”

Participants receive the same kits, but from there they can do some tinkering to try and squeeze the best performance from their solar-electric cars. For example, they can fiddle with different mounting angles for the solar panel, which is a 2v 700mA module. As well as the hardware, schools are provided with curriculum linked support materials.

At the beginning of a race, students first place their vehicles at the start of a 20-metre long guided track. A cardboard paddle is used to cover the solar panel until the starter says “go!”, then it’s lifted to expose the panel to sunlight.

Year 6 and year 8 students from more than 130 schools in Perth and regional WA are involved in this year’s Challenge, which kicked off at Newton Moore Senior High School in Bunbury yesterday. The weather report for Tuesday indicated a partly cloudy day, so fingers crossed clouds didn’t cast a shadow over the day.

Other heats will be held in Albany, Collie, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and two Perth metropolitan locations over the coming weeks before the grand finals at Murdoch University on Monday, 4 April.

Fun, But A Serious Side

If Australia is to achieve a 43 per cent emissions reductions target by 2030 and net zero by 2050, it will require an army of skilled workers to help get us there. But there’s a big skills gap in clean energy, so the Australian Government is spending $95.6 million over nine years to support 10,000 New Energy Apprenticeships. The initiative is part of the Albanese Government’s Powering Australia Plan.

Federal Minister for Skills And Training Brendan O’Connor noted last month that within Western Australia’s list of top 20 occupations with skills shortages, there are a number of clean energy related roles with particularly strong job vacancies. This included electricians, with around 20% of national electrician job ads from WA.

Given the uptake of home solar power in Western Australia, it’s little wonder good sparkies are thin on the ground out west – and pretty much everywhere else as well for that matter.

Here’s hoping some of the kids tinkering with model solar-electric cars today will be inspired enough by the activity to become the electricians, EV technicians and other clean energy workers of tomorrow!