Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy

UA Solar Car Team Seeking Support on their way to Houston

Solar car frame and body fabrication in progress

The University of Arizona is poised to be a strong competitor at the 2010 Shell Eco-Marathon which takes place in Houston, Texas March 26 -28. Students of the Solar Car Racing Team are pushing forward to complete their Urban Prototype Concept car, named "Solar Streaker," but need financial support to build a vehicle that can compete, and win.

You can share in making history by signing on as a sponsor of the Solar Streaker. Sponsorship levels vary for corporations and individuals and range from $50-$10,000. Just click on the contact button to lend your support.

The Solar Car Racing Team presented at the Clean Cities meeting, organized by the Pima Association of Governments (PAG) last Wednesday and shared their progress on the car with an attentive audience. A full copy of the presentation is available in PDF form by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.

Join in on the effort!

Becoming a Solar Team Sponsor is easy. Just download the Sponsor package and the PDF version of the Clean Cities presentation by clicking the button at at the bottom of this post.

Attachment	Size
Solar Car Presentation.pdf	1.18 MB
UA Solar Car Corporate Sponsorship Package.pdf	761.92 KB

UA Student Team Works to Complete Urban Solar Car

Student team installs body with integrated photovoltaic cells

The University of Arizona Urban Solar Car Team, comprised of eight students, is hard at work building a custom solar-powered car to compete in the Shell Eco-marathon, which will take place March 26-28 in Houston, Texas.

The custom car, powered by solar energy and batteries, will compete against a field of other entrants in the contest, which began in 1939 at a Shell research laboratory in the U.S. as a friendly wager between scientists to see who could get the most miles per gallon from their vehicles.

The annual contest, where the speeds are closer to 20 miles per hour than 100 miles per hours, is a challenge to see which car can drive the longest possible distance on the least amount of fuel. Participants build special vehicles to achieve the highest possible fuel efficiency. This is the second time the UA student team has participated in the Shell-Eco marathon.

The Eco-marathon is held around the world with events in Houston (USA), Lausitz (Germany) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).

Tucson Featured in National Site Selection Publication

Pictured above left to right: Olaf Koester,President and CEO, Solon in Tucson; Dr. Joseph Simmons, Director, AzRISE; Ardeth Barnhart, Co-Director, AzRISE; Paul Bonavia, CEO and President, Unisource Energy Corporation and Tucson Electric Power Company.

Tucson is featured in the November 2009 edition of Site Selection as part of the region that is "setting the stage for the entire (solar) supply chain." A number of factors combine to make the region a leading destination for solar manufacturing firms: abundant sunshine, open land, and new incentives including the passage this summer of a new incentive that, effective January 1, 2010, will offset up to 10% of what a renewable energy company spends to construct a new manufacturing operation or corporate office.

Olaf Koester (pictured above) told the magazine that the combination of this and other incentives "combined with rising power costs from other generation sources means solar might approach grad parity in just a few years."

The article also stresses the importance of the University of Arizona in attracting solar companies to the region. As it noted, "Nearly all firms benefit from access to talent and research at the University of Arizona, where efforts to promote the sector are led by the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy."

To read the entire story, click here http://www.siteselection.com/portal/

Solar Fusion 2009

See the event announcement

Solar Fusion 2009, held August 28, 2009, at the University of Arizona, featured a wide range of solar achievements at the University of Arizona. Highlights included the first public tours of the Solar Decathlon house on the eve of its departure for Washington, D.C. where it will compete against 19 other finalists in the Solar Decathlon, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Solar Fusion 2009 also featured a Poster Session on the wide range of alternative energy research at the UA. The day also featured presentations of a range of artistic endeavors inspired by the sun. U of A poets, authors, musicians and sculptures presented their work to the nearly 500 people who attended throughout the day. Watch the UANews coverage here. Follow the menu below for a serendipitous tour through all things solar at the University of Arizona:

Solar Fusion Kick-Off – Vice President for Research, Graduate Studies, and Economic Development, Dr. Leslie Tolbert
Solar Energy in Literature – An essay by UA’s Distinguished Professor of English Susan Hardy Aiken.
Award Winning Sun Sonnets – An Overview by Gail Browne, head of the UA Poetry Center.
Sun Sonnet Winners:
- Aubade by Melissa Lamberton
- Still Life with Sun and River Bed by Maureen McHugh
- Aubade by Sarah Kortemeier
Solar Sculpture by local Tucson artists Joseph O’Connell and Blessing Hancock
UA Solar Decathlon House SEED [Pod]
AzRISE Research Poster Session

Arizona Leadership Summit on Solar Energy and Economics

The Arizona Leadership Summit on Solar Energy and Economics was an exclusive gathering of state leaders to begin to transform Arizona's energy and economic future.

Solar Fusion Announcement

AzRISE Hosts Tribute to UA Achievements In Solar-Inspired Arts, Engineering and Science

In August 1609, Galileo Galilei unveiled the telescope – an invention that fused science, engineering, technology and art into a single instrument that breathed knowledge into the human relationship with the sun. Four hundred years later, the University of Arizona (UA) continues Galileo’s legacy through its research and innovation in solar energy.

Solar Fusion 2009, Declination 9⁰/42’, sponsored by the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy, celebrates the University’s multi-disciplinary achievements in solar energy.

The event takes place on Friday, August 28, from 9 AM to 4:30 PM at UA’s Crowder Hall. Among highlights of the event is the opportunity to view the UA Solar house on the eve of its departure to Washington, D.C. where it will compete with 19 other universities from around the world in the Solar Decathlon.

Share also in the performances and display of an array of solar-inspired creations from University scientists, engineers, poets, writers, researchers, musicians, architects and artists who continue to re-imagine the role of the sun in our lives. The solar-inspired music, sculpture, literature and poetry that will be displayed were created just for the event.

Solar Fusion 2009 takes its name from the mathematical declination of the Earth with respect to the sun on August 28, 2009. Mathematically, 9⁰/42’ is a calculation that guides, for instance, where to build a house for optimum solar effect. But it is also a measurement of the relationship between sun and earth, which has inspired poets, writers and artists throughout time.

Join AzRISE and the entire community to honor and celebrate the solar-centric fusion of artistry and science at the University. Share in our community pride as UA leads the way in solar innovation. Click below for a complete program.

Friday, August 28, 2009
9 AM to 4:30 PM
UA’s Crowder Hall
PROGRAM
MAP

DEADLINE -- Solar Poetry Contest

SOLAR POETRY CONTEST
Presented by the Poetry Center & AzRISE

Can you imagine sonnets del sol?

1. Can you imagine a poetry that saves nations and people?
2. Can you imagine a room of 14 lines?

3. Can you imagine a poem that problem-sees and problem-solves?
4. Can you imagine spring and all?
5. Can you imagine an asphodel?

6. Can you imagine a poem inspired by Apollo and fueled by sung?
7. Can you imagine a poem propelled by ray and sown by lung?

8. Can you sing a landscape electric?
9. Can you set your howl to cityscape and rhyme?

10. Can you slip April the "cruelest month" a solar-powered jolt of art?
11. Can you split atomic tongues and worlds apart?

12. Will you sing us a sonnet about the sun
13. ...power us, and woo us, until woe-be-gone?

14. If so, THE POETRY CENTER wants YOU and your POEM.

Shell Eco-Marathon (AzRISE urban concept car)

For the first time, the University of Arizona Solar Racing Team will be racing at the Shell Eco-Marathon in Fontana, CA. This urban concept car shifts the strategy of the racing team from solar racing towards functional vehicles for transportation.

CLICK HERE for a blog of the event!

Solar Energy and Its Application (Joe Simmons, Director)

Solar energy is the best future supply of energy for the planet. It is clean, renewable and has no carbon footprint. Its utilization to run our society is dependent on overcoming many barriers that are technical, engineering, economic and policy-based. The Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy is dedicated to the formation of research teams from academia, industry, utilities and national labs in order to tackle these critical obstacles. AzRISE supports, funds and collaborates with faculty at the University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University in studies of solar energy conversion, energy storage and grid management and solar desalination. AzRISE also supports education and workforce training/retraining and student activities like the Arizona Solar House, UA's entry into the DOE Solar Decathlon 2009, and the Solar Racing Car Team.

Location: AME Lecture Hall S212, University of Arizona

Short Bio:
Joe Simmons is Department Head and Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, and the College of Optical Sciences. He is the Director of the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE). He is co-editor of the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. He is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society, having served as Trustee and Chair of the Glass and Optical Materials Division. Simmons holds a PhD in Physics from Catholic University and has authored over 120 papers in optical materials, optical spectroscopy, non-linear optics, viscoselasticity, relaxation processes in viscous liquids and computational simulations of materials behavior.

Surviving the Shakeout: 2009 Solar Industry Summit

Join AzRISE as a sponsor of greentechmedia for two days in the desert to debate the future of solar with the industry's leading analysts, corporate leaders, utilities and policy makers. Sessions will combine detailed market analysis from Greentech Media's latest round of reports with real-world perspectives from solar market leaders, giving attendees the tools necessary to survive the shakeout.

For more information: http://www.greentechmedia.com/events/live/az09/az.html

Location:
Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona.
6902 East Greenway Parkway
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
(480) 624-1000