Making Solar Cars: Student Reports

Student Reports

Y8 students from Wisewoood Secondary School, Sheffield, have been building solar model cars as part of their Design & Technology classes.

Here are two student reports of their work:

Paul Savage

Design & Technology and Maths
Solar Electric Model Car Design and Making a Solar Powered Car
We started by making a solar powered car. Five of us tested which one would win in a race. We took the cars out to the back yard of the school and had a race. I worked with Thomas, Hayley, Robert and Laura. We tested the light weight cars against the heavy solar cars. The lightest car won the race. It was the lightest and had only one motor. I learned that a light weight solar powered car would win the race because it was the lightest. Others cars had different cogs. I liked doing this because it was fun. I thought with more weight it would go faster.

Tom Ashforth

Design & Technology
Solar Electric Model Car Design and Building a Solar Powered Car
I think our work was good. I built the cars with Haley Owen, Robert Boyle, Laura O’Leary and me, Thomas Ashforth. It was good because we made solar powered model cars. We did this by getting a piece of solar material and connecting a gear mechanism to it. We put wheels on it with a steel shaft connecting four wheels at the back and two wheels at the front. The gears were connected to a motor. Each time I finished first so I was able to help the others. Each week we made a different gear mechanism. Except for last week when we each picked a car with a different gear mechanism and had a race. The lightest car won because it was the lightest and because it had the most teeth on the cogs and on the gears.