Atlantic Canada’s First Solar Electric Vehicle Student Team 2022-2023
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Vision

Founded in 2021, Dalhousie Solar Car Team (DalSol) designs, builds and races a solar-powered electric vehicle. Our 80-member team is comprised of students from Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Chemical, Environmental, Industrial Engineering and Computer Science who share a passion for climate solutions.

The Formula Sun Grand Prix is an annual closed-track event that attracts student teams from post-secondary institutions across North America. Racing at FSGP has been our dream since day 1 and with hard work, effort and perseverance, our solar car NOVA made its debut this year!

Our Solar Car's debut at FSGP in July 2023!

Looking ahead to 2024, we intend to compete in the American Solar Challenge, a bi-annual endurance rally across multiple states in the US.

Story

Over the past 2.5 years, the project has had over 80+ members contribute to our car to date. Everyone brings something to the table, and we believe that the unique backgrounds and talents is what makes DalSol.

Our team is incredibly proud to have represented Atlantic Canada this FSGP in Kansas from June 27th to July 2nd. Even with the smallest race crew there, we achieved 3rd overall in Scrutineering and 4th in the SOV (single-occupant vehicle) class after completing 135 laps, totaling over 543 kilometers, ultimately exceeding our own expectations. We also got awarded “Best New Scrutineering Team”!

However, we could not have done it alone. Sponsors are integral to our success; without support from the community, this achievement would not be possible. Both monetary contributions and in-kind donations, expertise and advice helped us reach significant milestones and makes solar racing all it is worth!

Strategy

Our mission is to produce doers of electric vehicle development and to excite the public about sustainable transportation and promote the practicality of renewable energy.

Solar car team alumni around the world are highly desired by tech companies, manufacturing, consulting, and automotive giants due to sheer exposure and depths of experience they gain from building a solar car and working in a multidisciplinary group with time and financial constraints.

Designing and building a solar car requires a wide range of real-life engineering skills, both technical and non-technical. Since the beginning, the team has evolved as a unique group of its own that allows students to extend their education far beyond traditional classroom learning.

Impact

Our first ever race at FSGP 2023 was a success and showed the competition what Dalhousie students can achieve. Next year, the team’s main goal is to build a new solar array. This allows for greater efficiency to gain a competitive edge to more effectively charge our battery pack. The team also plans to design and build a new set of wheels, make improvements to the brakes, motor, and electrical controls system. Funding will be used to cover materials for these developments and testing of the car. Additionally, race registration for both FSGP and ASC make up a significant portion of project expenses, as well as associated travel expenses and logistics (i.e., accommodations, uniforms, data plans, etc.). We also plan on hosting outreach events and workshops throughout the year to inspire and encourage those that are interested in seeing what we do!

We are counting on your support to help make DalSol’s journey long-lasting so that we can pave the way for students that share the mindset of building solar-powered EVs for a better future. We have gained a whole new set of experiences so far, and we want to make this a reality for generations to come.

Your support will be essential in allowing us to attend and compete in FSGP and ASC 2024 to represent Atlantic Canada’s Solar Electric Vehicle Student Team.

To stay up to date on our work, please follow along on our Instagram and LinkedIn!

All-team meeting is every Wednesday 7pm in the Heavy Prototyping Lab in Emera IDEA Building, Sexton Campus. Sub-team work sessions occur ad-hoc basis throughout the week. Please feel free to come visit our shop and see our work!

If you would like more information about this campaign please reach out to Venna Penney at venna.penney@dal.ca. To mail a cheque please send to the Office of Advancement, 6389 Coburg Road, PO Box 15000, Halifax, NS B3H 2A5.

The Team

Gina Park

Founder & Team Lead (Electrical Engineering Year 4)

Gina oversees and leads subsystem functions: Mechanical, Electrical, Battery and Operations. She is the driving force behind DalSol and makes sure that our solar car NOVA is technically developed, and the team is on track to becoming race-ready for FSGP 2023!

Michelle Yee

Operations Manager (Electrical Engineering Year 4)

Michelle manages the team’s finances, sourcing, recruitment, funding applications, to name a few. She also serves administrative- and DSU- related tasks, such as ratification and record keeping.

Mahmood Saeed

Sponsorship Director (Industrial Engineering Year 4)

Mahmood consistently acts as a point of contact between our team and industry partners. His role is vital in maintaining correspondence and arranging meetings between the team and sponsors.

August Holder

Outreach Director (Chemical Engineering Year 2)

August keeps the community informed about everything happening on the team through our social media platforms. Whether this is about the work that we do in the shop or updates on milestones, she makes sure that the word is out there! She also helps with sponsorship outreach and promoting solar car events.

Berk Karacaoglu

Mechanical Co-Lead (Mechanical Engineering Year 5)

Berk has worked on roll cage, the braking system, and steering wheel. He has contributed to the development of the battery enclosure and most recently, is working on configuring the solar array.

Grant MacCormack

Mechanical Co-Lead (Mechanical Engineering Year 2)

Grant is currently involved in roll cage testing with FEA simulations. His past work includes redesigning the steering wheel, designing the top shell charging supports and building the battery box.

Noah Bugden

Motor & Motor Control Lead (Electrical Engineering Year 2)

Noah develops and maintains a variety of motor and motor controller operations. This includes but is not limited to high voltage and basic wiring of controls, static and dynamic testing of the motor and regenerative braking. Currently, he focuses on setting the controller parameters up to run the motor smoothly.

Owen Stuttard

Battery Lead (Electrical Engineering Year 4)

Owen does everything related to batteries on DalSol. This includes measuring their parameters, designing the pack, and collaborating with others working on the main power bus. Most recently, he worked on battery cycling as part of battery characterization test.

Arshvir Singh

Battery Protection Lead (Mechanical Engineering Year 3)

Arshvir works closely with our battery management system (BMS) and configures the CAN network for compatibility with our battery pack. He currently helps with FEA simulations and works closely with our battery lead to ensure that that the battery pack is monitored and protected.

Kate Arsenault

Fundraising Lead (Electrical Engineering Year 3)

Kate wears many hats on the team! Her main responsibility is to organize fundraising activities such as bake sales and pancake sales, but she has also wired the solar cells and helped with battery tests. She interacts with the sponsors and the media, too.

Jacob Benedict

Webmaster (Computer Science Year 3)

Jacob is responsible for designing, managing, and maintaining the web presence. He is responsible for building out the DalSol website making sure it is up to date with the most current information.

Updates

Thank you to our supporters!

July 13, 2023

We want to express our utmost gratitude for your contribution to the Dalhousie Solar Car Team. As you may have heard, we started off as a small group of engineering students in February 2021, with the dream to innovate high in-demand electric vehicles. Not only does this require hard work, dedication and many hours in the shop, but it is the minds and talents of our interdisciplinary team that come together to create a sense of togetherness and group harmony for success.

Donations have given us the tools and materials necessary for the construction and development of our car, NOVA. We must admit, funding has been a big obstacle, and it is never easy for any newly formed team; there is an element of trust that has to be established between us and the community, and you have given us hope every step of the way. That being said, your support has brought morale and created the opportunity for DalSol to participate in Formula Sun Grand Prix 2023, an annual closed-track event that attracts solar car teams across North America, marking ourselves in history as the first ever Atlantic Canadian solar car team to attend!

At FSGP, we pursued solar racing amongst many post-secondary institutions and showcased our engineering capabilities. Despite having the smallest race crew of only six members, we impressed the competition and performed even beyond our own expectations. We blew through Scrutineering by placing 3rd overall and during the track event, completed 135 laps, counting over 335 miles, and came 4th in the SOV (single-occupant vehicle) class. We were also awarded "Best New Scrutineering Team"!

Best New Scrutineering Team!

Check out our Instagram and Linkedin to find more media recap and also see detailed results via the American Solar Challenge website.

Lastly, note that our projectDal fundraiser is still open for donations! We are in the process of collecting funds to help wrap up this year and start the next project cycle strong. Please spread the word with family, friends and anyone that you know wishes to support our solar car journey!

Sending you warmest sun-ergy,

Dalhousie Solar Car Team

Highlighting our achievements from this past year!

July 18, 2023

– Between May to August 2022, we raised enough funds to purchase 500 li-ion batteries. In-vehicle aluminum supports are designed to allow optimal angle for solar charging. We also completed finite element analysis of 6 loading cases on the roll cage. The team took a much-needed break in July before preparing for a new project cycle in September.

– In the Fall term (Sep-Nov 2022), we established commands between the motor and the motor controller. Throttle pedal among other driver controls were installed. Wheels are reconditioned for road action. Battery characterization tests had begun. Solar array is reconfigured into 3 sub-arrays for optimal performance.

– In the Winter term (Jan-Apr 2023), we finished battery cell characterization and assembled them into a 108V pack. Occupant seat was put together with a new 5-point racing harness. The dashboard was redesigned and fabricated including all necessary vehicle monitoring systems. With the majority of our subsystems complete, the car was powered up and successfully completed its first test drive!

– From May to mid-June 2023, we made final touches to prepare for scrutineering and get ready for the race! Members worked tirelessly and spent many hours in the shop on the car; this includes, but is not limited to high-voltage box, BMS and array wiring, mechanical work on braking, structural repairs and making the impound box for our batteries. Vehicle decals, design reports and race-related documents were being finished as well. Dynamic tests happened in Waterville, NS, to ensure that drivers could complete slaloms, figure-8s and wet braking.

– End of June to early July, the team heads off to the race! The event was an overall success for DalSol and marks the first time in history that an Atlantic Canadian solar car team participated at FSGP! The team will wrap up all race-related activities, take a well-deserved break, and aims to start the new project cycle near the end of August to plan for FSGP/ASC 2024.

Supporters

Joshua Nyamukapa

A great bunch of people I got to meet along the way. All the best :)

Dianne Piaskoski

I loved hearing about your project and goals on CTV news. You are all young, enthusiastic, and are working hard on an important project. You deserve to participate at the competition in Kansas. I hope you get there and "bonne chance" if you do!

Bill Holtby

As a mentor and sponsor for several years of FIRST Robotics (FRC) and FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams I have a strong appreciation for the commitment, co-operation and inter-disciplinary skills required to bring these projects to completion.

Heidi Belcourt

To fund the young minds in creating a healthy environment for future generations!

Claudia De Fuentes

This is an exceptional initiative run by students, it shows a truly entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. Maya and Sarah Blair will be happy to see the success of this team and this initiative