Solvay to support Seattle high school students in STEM-focused solar car race

Solvay announced its continuing commitment to the future of transportation by sponsoring the RAHS Green Energy team, a Seattle-based team of students who are partaking in the STEM-focused National Solar Car Challenge in Texas in July 2022. With the contest just around the corner, the students from Raisbeck Aviation High School Green Energy Team have worked over the past few months to engineer, design and build the solar-powered car that has been unveiled today.

Every year, students are challenged to completely design, manufacture, test, and race a solar car. In just their first two competitions, the RAHS Green Energy team stunned their competition by becoming two-time National Solar Car Champions. This July, dozens of teams from around the United States are set to gather at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for the 2022 competition. The race will be held over four days on the speedway’s closed course, with teams allowed only limited windows of time to charge their vehicles’ batteries under the sun.

The National Solar Car Challenge tests the ability and innovativeness of these creative student teams to build a winning car with advanced materials and a battery system that efficiently stores the most solar energy and increases motor performance. Seeking a design advantage, this year, the RAHS Green Energy team’s vehicle is shaped as a catamaran, covered with photovoltaic cells. 

”We are very happy to name Solvay among our key partners,” said Maya Peña, fundraising and outreach team lead. “It’s thanks to companies who believe in us that we can keep our educational project alive and ensure that our team gains hands-on experience innovating solutions to real-world environmental issues through the power of STEM.”

”Being part of the National Solar Car Challenge is a natural fit for Solvay and our commitment to bond people, ideas and elements to shape the world we experience every day,” said Carmelo Lo Faro, President of Solvay Materials Segment. “The creativity and technical capabilities of the RAHS Green Energy team is both impressive and inspiring, and their achievements so far show us how a love of science and a desire to improve our world can create material change"

Solvay’s partnership with the RAHS Green Energy team is part of the Group’s corporate citizenship program which aims to address worldwide societal challenges by supporting projects in three distinct areas: STEM education, innovation and sustainability. In particular, the program aims to encourage the development and improvement of scientific knowledge, investing in extraordinary projects that go beyond and pursue ideas that are outside the box. Solvay has provided support for the team’s participation in the week-long Solar Car Challenge, as well as for the new solar car design.