Sharp will provide solar cells to the Tokai University team taking part in the solar car category of the Global Green Challenge. The solar car category of the Global Green Challenge has vehicles powered only by the Sun’s energy traverse the Australian continent in one of the world’s largest solar car races. In this race, universities and other organizations from around the world will cover about 3,000 km—from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south—in cars developed with support from corporate sponsors. Sharp will provide Tokai University with compound solar cells having a cell conversion efficiency of 30% and a total output of 1.8 kW.
By providing these highly efficient solar cells, Sharp will allow Tokai University’s Tokai Challenger solar car to maximize its performance under the harsh conditions of this race. The drivers will include Kenjiro Shinozuka, who in 1997 became the first Japanese to achieve overall victory in the Paris to Dakar Rally. Tokai University is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1943 by Shigeyoshi Matsumae, who had formerly been the engineering president of the Ministry of Communications.
