Sun Is The Future

Dear Solar Enthusiasts,

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Remember our coverage on Veolia World Solar Challenge of 2011 between Darwin and Adelaide, Australia? Here, in North America, we will have our very own solar car race soon, the American Solar Challenge, from July 14-21, 2012. The event will take student teams and their solar cars from Rochester, NY, to St. Paul, MN. This is a competition for student teams to design, build, and drive solar-powered cars that will race through 1,650 mile course through multiple cities (in NY-PA-OH-MI-IL-WI-MN) across the United States. All teams (18 teams have registered and 16 teams are planning to compete in both Formula Sun Grand Prix-July 10-12, 2012 and the American Solar Challenge-July 14-21, 2012) have to go through three days (July 7-9, 2012) of careful scrutineering process in Monticello, NY, at the Monticello Raceway, where each and every solar car is inspected from electrical and mechanical engineering adherence (such as body and sizing) to safety regulations and dynamic testing (consisting of a slalom course followed by a breaking test where each driver must demonstrate that he/she can come to a complete and controlled stop, under wet driving conditions, within a time limit) before the solar car will be allowed to enter the track.  This is a very friendly competition, so occasionally some teams are given additional shot at the braking qualifier. The purpose and emphasis of the scrutineering process is in safety and adherence to regulation.  Then Scrutineering will be followed by three days of track racing, the Formula Sun Grand Prix portion of the event. On July 13, 2012, solar car teams will travel to Rochester, NY, to be displayed and to prepare for the start of the cross-country rally, The American Solar Challenge. On July 14, solar car teams will leave on the start of the race at 9:00AM at one minute interval.

Day I       (July 14, 2012): Rochester, NY———>Erie, PA

Day II     (July 15, 2012): Erie, PA—————–>Mansfield, OH

Day III   (July 16, 2012):Mansfield, OH———->Ann Arbor, MI

Day IV    (July 17, 2012):Ann Arbor, MI——–>Kalamazoo, MI

Day V      (July 18, 2012): Kalamazoo, MI——–>Normal, IL

Day VI    (July 19, 2012): Normal, IL————->Verona, WI

Day VII  (July 20, 2012): Verona, WI————>LaCrosse, WI

Day VIII (July 21, 2012): LaCrosse, WI———->St. Paul, MN

The American Solar Challenge race will finish at the Capitol Building of St. Paul, MN, on July 21, 2012.

Below, please allow me to share a clip of ASC 2012 (American Solar Challenge 2012):

Take a look at the team photos of this year’s American Solar Challenge solar race teams (University of MI, University of KY, MIT, IL State University, IA State University, Northwestern University,  MI State University, Western MI University, State University of NY-New Paltz, Principia College, University of MN, Georgia Institute of Technology, Polytechnique Montreal, University of CA-Berkeley, OR State University, University of NM) .  So far,  we’ve received reporting of Missouri University of Science and Technology Solar Car Team has withdrawn from the 2012 American Solar Challenge due to insufficient time in completing the vehicle before the race starts (July 14, 2012) in Rochester, NY. “The team, which consists of a large percentage of new student members, was overwhelmed by the magnitude of the project and thus the design and fabrication took longer than anticipated,” says Dr. Roger A. LaBoube, director of S&T’s Student Design and Experiential Learning Center. “I’m sure our team will take what we learned during this process in preparation for the next big race.” It is true that experience really matters and we wish Missouri University of Science and Technology Solar Car Team the best next time. Let this also be a lesson for all potential future entering teams: please allot a great deal of safety factor in terms of preparation time because these are complicated designs and it will always take more time than one anticipates.

Here are some links/video clips that may be of interest to you: American Solar Challenge 2012 official site,  past American Solar Challenge 2010, Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011, below:

• American Solar Challenge 2012
• American Solar Challenge 2010
• Stanford Solar Car: American Solar Challenge Part One
• University of Minnesota’s Solar Car Crosses the Finish Line: American Solar Challenge 2010
• Quantum-U of MI, USA, One of Top Three World Solar Challenge 2011 Winners
• Wrapping Up Veolia World Solar Challenge 2011

More coverage of the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) 2012-July 10-12, 2012 and American Solar Challenge (ASC) 2012-July 14-21, 2012 will unfold in future posts.  Until then, I wish all of these teams…..

~bright and sunny days during the complete course of the race~

Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker

Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com

Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:

www.sunisthefuture.net

www.youtube.com/user/sunisthefuture

www.kiva.org/team/sunisthefuture

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Dear Readers,

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If you are in favor of renewable,  clean, or solar energy, please sign this petition for FIT/CLEAN Program, accessible at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065 Thank you very much.
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Dear Friends & Readers,

Today, I want to share a special treat with you that  was received from taking an alternate route to the post office.  This is the first time for me to have ever observed such a special and rare phenomenon.  Naturally, I took out my IPhone and took a few shots, wondering how it was formed, shared below:

Fire Rainbow (on the way to post office) photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker

Moving Fire Rainbow (on the way to post office) photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker

After I pointed it (what appeared to be a  fragment of a rainbow) out to my hubby (who happened to be in the car sitting next to me), he became quite ecstatic because he just read about this phenomenon on Reddit today;it was mentioned under the topic of Fire Rainbow.  Yes, one more item on the list of “firsts” that I brought to my hubby, from gardening/ perennials,  vitamins/supplements, yoga, solar car race,  unusual foods and spices, etc. and now the fire rainbow.   Upon further investigation online, I found out that  it/fire rainbow is fragment of Circumhorizontal Arc.

As it turned out, fire rainbow is a rare phenomenon that appears  when the sun is high which makes its rays pass through the high cirrus clouds containing the ice crystals.

For a clip of these Fire Rainbow or Circumhorizontal Arc:

For further understanding and sharing of this rare phenomenon, please also enjoy more of the photos and explanations from Wikipedia below:

A circumhorizontal arc

Sun Arc/Horizontal Arc of 2011 at Oregon-Fire Rainbow (Wikimedia Commons)

is an optical phenomenon – an ice-halo formed by plate-shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds.

The current accepted names are circumhorizonal arc or lower symmetric 46° plate arc. The complete halo is a huge, multi-colored band running parallel to the horizon with its centre beneath the sun. The distance below the sun is twice as far as the common 22-degree halo. Red is the uppermost color. Often, when the halo-forming cloud is small or patchy, only fragments of the arc are seen.

Fire Rainbow-Circumhorizontal Arc of Idaho (photographed in Coeur d'Alene by Gavin Anderson, June 3, 2006)

Fire Rainbow at Ravenna, MI-Circumhorizontal arc, Creative Commons

How often a circumhorizontal arc is seen depends on the location and the latitude. In the United States it is a relatively common halo seen several times each summer in any one place. In contrast, it is rare to non-observable in northern Europe.

Formation of the halo requires that the sun be very high in the sky, at an elevation of 58° or more, and that the cirrus cloud or haze contain plate-shaped ice crystals. The sun’s altitude determines the visibility of the halo; it is impossible to see at locations north of 55°N or south of 55°S (although a lunar circumhorizon arc might be visible). At other latitudes it is visible for a greater or lesser time around the summer solstice. For example, in London, England, the sun is only high enough for 140 hours between mid May and late July. Contrast that with Los Angeles with the sun higher than 58 degrees for 670 hours between late March and late September.

The halo is formed by sunlight entering horizontally-oriented flat hexagon ice crystals through a vertical side face and leaving through the near horizontal bottom face (plate thickness does not affect the formation of the halo). In principle, Parry oriented column crystals can also produce the arc, although this is rare.

The 90° inclination between the ray entrance and exit faces produce the well-separated spectral colors.

The arc has a considerable angular extent and is thus rarely complete. When only fragments of cirrus cloud are in the appropriate sky/sun position they can appear to shine with spectral colors.

Fire Rainbow off of the Coast of Carrillo (Creative Commons)

A circumhorizontal arc can be difficult to distinguish from an infralateral arc when the sun is high in the sky. The former is always parallel to the horizon whereas the latter curves upwards at its ends.

I hope you have enjoyed this piece.  Remember to look up into the sky from time to time because you’ll never know what treasure/treat you might discover.  Did you notice that most adults do not look up (or around, for that matter) that often…perhaps that explains why adults tend to get stiff necks far more frequently than children (who look up quite often).   Look up and take an alternate route periodically, so you’re more likely to discover something surprisingly intriguing.

Cheers!
~have a bright and sunny day~

Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker

Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com

Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:

www.sunisthefuture.net

www.youtube.com/user/sunisthefuture

www.kiva.org/team/sunisthefuture

www.facebook.com/sunisthefuture

www.pinterest.com/sunisthefuture

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