An Aquinas College team has secured a place in the Synergy Schools Solar Challenge state final next month.

The Year 8 team won the South Metro Regional Semi Final at Rossmoyne Senior High School, winning the knockout, best of three races competition over four rounds.

The team’s car only tallied one loss across the competition.

Aquinas College had 10 teams in the semi final, which involved students building solar cars using Synergy-supplied kits and racing them over a 20m distance. The Aquinas team heading to the state finals put its success down to the aerodynamic shape of the winning car.

“We think the reason our car was so fast was due to its lightness and flat aerodynamic shape.”

“While other schools angled their panels to capture more sunlight, our testing showed this only had a minor effect in a short 20m race – instead, we focused on streamlining the shape and using a smaller gear to maximise the speed in the last section of the race.”

This was Aquinas College’s first attempt at the Synergy Solar Challenge, however, the College’s experience in the field of solar energy goes back more than 20 years, with success in the Australian Model Solar Car Championships.

The team will compete for the Champion Schools trophy at Optus Stadium on 9^th April.