Meet Novum: a long, skinny, single-fairing solar car| Medium Read

Enlarge IMAGE: Peter Rohrer and Caroline Subramoney, both undergraduate students on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, clean the surface of Novum, the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Rohrer is studying naval architecture and marine engineering and Subramoney is studying computer engineering. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

The University of Michigan’s top-ranked solar car team has unveiled the vehicle it will race in a global contest this fall, and it’s the smallest and most aerodynamic that any U-M team has ever built. Aptly named Novum–Latin for ‘new thing’–the design, manufacturing process and solar technology behind the national champion team’s fourteenth car is different than anything they’ve ever done before. Measuring just over one meter shoulder to shoulder, Novum is roughly 43 percent narrower than the team’s last vehicle, Aurum. And according to experimental simulation data, it’s roughly 20 percent more efficient. Today, at the Michigan Theater, the team introduced Novum to the public – showcasing the vehicle they will race across Australia in the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge.

In October, the team’s seventeen-member race crew will take Novum 1,800 miles across the Australian Outback in an eight-day endurance contest that takes place every two years. U-M’s team has finished third in the world race five times in its 27-year history. It has won the comparable American race nine times – and won the Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge in 2015. The last World Solar Challenge, in 2015, ended with the closest finish in the race’s history. The top five teams completed the course within 80 minutes of one another. Michigan hung onto third place until the last 30 miles. “There are two ways to improve. You either refine an iteration of a previous design or you change something drastically,” said Clayton Dailey, the team’s engineering director and a senior studying mechanical engineering. “This year we’re going for a drastic change.”

Enlarge IMAGE: Clayton Dailey, a mechanical engineering undergraduate student and engineering director of the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, checks the fit of Novum's windowed fairings. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

The team had considered building a small car in the past, but the true potential came into focus after two variables aligned. First, officials reduced the maximum solar array area by roughly a third, meaning cars would take in less energy from the sun. Silicon cell arrays are down to four square meters from six; thin film gallium arsenide arrays are down to 3.56 Sq m; and multijunction gallium arsenide arrays can only be 2.64 Sq m. Second, the team was able to secure high-tech, “multijunction” gallium arsenide solar cells, which are roughly 35 percent efficient, compared to silicon cells’ 20 percent. The last three U-M solar cars have been powered by silicon, but in fact all others used gallium-based arrays – ranging in junction variety and efficiency. In the eight years since the last gallium arrays, the technology has rapidly evolved, whereas silicon has plateaued. Novum’s will be the most advanced gallium cells the team has ever used.

NOVUM NUMBERS 35% efficiency of multijunction solar cells 43% narrower than predecessor 20% more efficient overall

“Flat-panel silicon is basically maxed out in terms of efficiency,” said Rachel S. Goldman, a U-M materials science and engineering professor who works on gallium arsenide cells but is not affiliated with the team. “The cost of silicon isn’t going down and efficiency isn’t going up.” For example, Novum’s gallium array is less than half the size of Aurum’s silicon counterpart, yet the team expects to generate enough energy to maintain average speeds of 50-55 mph in Australia – similar to Aurum’s. “Going from silicon to multijunction is a big jump in efficiency,” said Eric Brown, the team’s race array engineer and a rising junior studying electrical engineering. “These types of cells are difficult and costly to manufacture and found in places where space is at a premium but you need a lot of energy. So, for example, satellites use them quite a bit.” “There’s also more freedom to put things in parallel and make different size array modules. There are different things you can do to mitigate losses from curvature and shading that you can’t do with silicon.” The array’s smaller footprint allowed the design team more freedom. The aerodynamics division began experimenting with the shape of the car. “My teammates and I designed a lot of strange looking cars – all the crazy ideas we thought of trying in the past,” said Jiahong Min, the team’s aerodynamics leader and graduate student studying mechanical engineering. He studied aerospace as an undergrad at Michigan Engineering and joined the team as a junior. “There was a lot of trial and error, but experiments showed that making it narrower was more efficient than making it shorter.”

Photo Gallery Previous Slide ◀︎ Next Slide ▶︎ Patrick Irving, an undergraduate computer engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, examines the battery electronics box on an earlier generation Li-Ion battery as part of his work on Novum, the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Akhil Kantipuly

Caroline Subramoney, an undergraduate computer engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, polishes a metal plate used to lay up the carbon fiber housing for Novum’s steering wheel, which she designed and manufactured. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Akhil Kantipuly

Nathan Silverman, an undergraduate computer engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, extracts water-jetted, carbon fiber plates which create the dashboard housing for Novum, a major part of the driver interface. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Akhil Kantipuly

Will Horner and Chae Woo Lim, both undergraduate students on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, work on the brakes for Novum, the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Horner and Lim are both studying mechanical engineering. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Alan Li, an undergraduate computer science engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, works on a fairing mold for Novum, the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Chae Woo Lim and Hossein Zabihian, both undergraduate students on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, check the fit of Novum's windowed fairings. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Lim is studying mechanical engineering and Zabihian is studying aerospace engineering. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Caroline Subramoney, an undergraduate computer engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, checks the wiring of Novum's horn. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Novum is the University of Michigan Solar Car Team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Will Horner, an undergraduate mechanical engineering student on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, fits Novum's left-front wheel. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Students on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team work on Novum, the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Alan Li and Janice Lau, both undergraduate students on the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, secure Novum's windowed fairings. Novum is the team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Li is studying computer science engineering and Lau is studying industrial and operations engineering. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering

Novum is the University of Michigan Solar Car Team's 14th solar car and entry into the 2017 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. Photo: Evan Dougherty, Michigan Engineering Image 1 of 12 Current Slide Image 2 of 12 Image 3 of 12 Image 4 of 12 Image 5 of 12 Image 6 of 12 Image 7 of 12 Image 8 of 12 Image 9 of 12 Image 10 of 12 Image 11 of 12 Image 12 of 12