Every two years, a student team launches a new concept for a solar vehicle designed to make the mobility sector more sustainable. This highly successful Solar Team Eindhoven has been around for ten years now (on November 2, 2012 Cursor published its first article on STE) and last week, spin-off company Lightyear presented a new solar car, the Lightyear 0, a testament to the potential of such a team. STE’s first team captain, Lex Hoefsloot, now leads the Helmond-based company.

STE’s initial course of participating in the Cruiser Class of the World Solar Challenge in Australia every two years – and winning four consecutive editions – has now been abandoned. In 2021, the team took everyone by surprise with its solar camper Stella Vita, a ‘self-sustaining house on wheels’, as they dubbed it, which attracted a great deal of publicity. All of Europe had to experience this solar vehicle, and for that reason, STE spent the months of September and October touring with Stella Vita from Eindhoven to the southern Spanish town of Tarifa. They visited various cities along the way, such as Brussels, Paris, Le Mans, Madrid and Toledo.

Looking forward

“But now, it’s time to look forward again”, says Lowe Blom, master’s student in Mechanical Engineering, who was responsible for aerodynamics within the Stella Vita team and has been working part-time at Lightyear for several months now. Blom: “That’s why we want to invite students to a brainstorming session next week, to help come up with a concept for the new team to start working on. We really want it to be an open meeting: everyone is welcome, regardless of what study program you’re enrolled in or what stage of your studies you’re in. And we encourage everyone to propose an idea or a new concept. Those who already have a clear vision in mind are welcome, but so are those who just want to talk to a group of interested people about this topic. If you have a wild idea, don’t hesitate to let us know about it on Wednesday afternoon, June 22 in the Auditorium, room 14. We will start by giving a presentation about STE there, but after that, it’s up to the group to work together and come up with an exciting new concept revolving around a solar-powered vehicle. And of course, it’s also possible to apply for a place within the new team.”

The brainstorming session organized by STE and Cursor will take place on Wednesday June 22,from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Auditorium, room 14. Anyone interested in attending the meeting can let us know by sending an email to cursor@remove-this.tue.nl.