The Solar Cup competition at the Institute of Solid State Physics is organized since 2008. It aims at promotion and development of knowledge among the school youth about environmentally friendly and energy efficient solutions in the transport sector in the world today. Local and international experts give lectures on alternative energy solutions and challenges in the field.
Participants of the Solar Cup are students of grades 5 to 12. They apply for the competition and form school teams (2-3 participants in each). The teams are divided in two age categories – primary and secondary school.
At the day of the competition, the teams arrived at the ISSP UL with their solar-powered model vehicles to compete in the different classes, in parallel each team completed a knowledge test followed by lectures/speeches on topics and projects in the field of renewable energy. Teams competed in power track for ground vehicles as well as in water track for solar-powered boats. As every year, there was also an opportunity to participate in the expert class competition for models with a high degree of complexity, such as aircraft models.
The winners of the Solar Cup 2019 were determined on the basis of a number of criteria: home works (model sketches and videos on preparation of the model vehicles), performance in competitions, completion of the questionnaire with question on the subject of green energy as well as the overall criteria for team participation – attire, team spirit, etc.
