Jönköping University Solar Team

The Team

Every other year, the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is held in Australia, which means a new team of students is formed to participate in the project. Students from across Jönköping University are welcome to apply, and with support from mentors and faculty, they work toward the goal of competing in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia.

The team consists of five groups: Mechanics, Bodywork, Electrical, TPL (Test Driving, Planning, and Logistics), and Marketing. Students have the opportunity to choose the group that suits them best, based on their skills or interest in learning something new.

The mentors are former team members who share their experiences and help the current team improve the solar car compared to previous years. By combining shared goals with individual responsibility, the team works to develop the optimal solar car to represent Jönköping University in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

With a constant drive to improve, we are proud to be the leading team in the Nordic region.

The Cars

The project began in 2013, and since then the team has built a new car every other year. With support from mentors and teachers, the students strive to create the most aerodynamic and high-performance design.

Between 2013 and 2023, the team used a catamaran design for the cars, but in 2023, they introduced a droplet design, which led to an impressive 7th-place finish in the competition, among approximately 40 teams from around the world.

Before each competition, the teams are presented with new rules and challenges, which require the students to think innovatively and find new solutions.

The Competition: Bridgestone World Solar Challenge

The race spans 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide through rural Australia and lasts about a week. The goal is to promote new sustainable and environmentally friendly ideas, while challenging students to develop innovative solutions.

About 40 teams from around the world participate and compete to be the first to cross the finish line, but the competition isn’t just about speed. It is, above all, an engineering competition, where planning, component quality, and simulations play a crucial role in success.

Every day, the teams race from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., after which it’s time to camp for the night.

Would you like to support the project?

To achieve our goals, we’re grateful for any help. If this sounds interesting and you’d like to get involved and support this unique project, you’re warmly welcome to join us on our exciting journey.

As a partner of the JU Solar Team, you’ll become part of the development of renewable energy and sustainable solutions. The team from Jönköping University is proud to collaborate with Sweden’s business community to contribute together to a sustainable future.

Would you also like to help create the innovations of the future?