Nicknamed the ‘suitcaseman’ because his solar car can be dismantled and folded into the size of a suitcase, German solar car enthusiast Detlef Schmitz first became actively involved in these events in 1985. He built his first solar vehicle for the inaugural Tour de Sol, held in Switzerland. He has also entered every WSC event. 

He is one of only two teams to have taken part in every WSC, and is yet to complete the 3010km course from Darwin to Adelaide. Unlike other solar vehicles, the overall array of the Heliodet 6’s solar panels is flat. The solar panels are lightweight and a thin type of ‘Gochermann’ solar technology. One unique feature of the Heliodet 6 is that the motor, brake and suspension compact are in a disk-wheel. When building the Heliodet 6 solar car, the team took into consideration Australia’s harsh conditions, and produced a technical system that would be efficient and safe against heat and vibration. 

Despite the Heliodet 6 averaging speeds of about 50kph, and the team being the smallest in this international event, Detlef Schmitz, his daughter Steffi, Michael Viebach and Bernhard Scharl are confident this little solar car will this year cross the finish line in Adelaide.''

Congratulations to the team for a job well done and for advancing the cause of clean, sustainable, electric transportation.

 

ORGANISATION A-Z	CAR'S NAME	TEAM NAME
Aristotle Uni of Thessaloniki, Helios	Helios	Faculty of Engineering
Arizona Solar Racing Team - USA		Arizona Solar Racing Team
Auburn University	Sol of Auburn	Sol of Auburn
Aurora Team, Australia	Aurora	Aurora Vehicle Association
Bochum Solar Car Team		Das SolarCar der Fachhochschule
California Poly S University	SLO Burn  Sidewinder	San Luis Obispo
Clarkson Uni Solar Car Team, USA		The Solar Knights
Delft University - Holland	NUNA I & II 2003
Dell Winston School	The Hunter	Solar Car Challenge
Desert Rose, Northern Territory Uni	FUJI DESERT ROSE
Drexel SunDragon Home Page
École de technologie supérieure Quebec	Eclipse V (5)	Éclipse Vehicular Solaire
École Polytechnique de Montréal	Esteban
Eko-Auto  Poland	Eko-Auto
Electron Analytic Corporation	Dark Horse	EAC Skunkworks
George Washington University		George Washington Uni Solar Car
Georgia Institute of Technology	Solar Jackets	Solar Jackets
Heliodet, Germany	Heliodet	Heliodet, Solar Car Team
Helios - Lille, France	Hélios IV	Hautes Etudes d'Ingénieur
Honda Car Company	Honda
Illinois State University	Surya, Ratha, Mercury	Illinois State University Team
Iowa State University	Fusion	Team PrISUm
Jonasun  Japan	Orbit	Solar Car Paviion
Kansas State University	Paragon	Solar Car Racing Team
Los Altos Academy of Engineering		Los Altos Solar Car Team
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Tesseract	MIT
McGill University Monteal, Canada	iSun	Team iSun
McMaster University	Phoenix	McMaster Uni Solar Car Project
Messiah College Grantham, Penns	Genesis II	Genesis II Solar Racing Team
Michigan State University		Solar Racing Team
Michigan Technological University		Solar Car Team
Minnesota S Uni-Mankato/Winona S Uni		Minnesota Solar Car Team
North Dakota State University	The Double Deuce	Sunsetters - Solar Race Team
Northwestern University	N'Uvation	Northwestern University
Nuon Solar Team, Netherlands	Nuon 3	Het Nuon Solar Team
Osaka Sangyo University, Japan	OSU model S	Solar Car Team
Prairie View A&M University	Solaris	Sun Panthers
Principia College	RA 6	Principia College Solar Car Team
Purdue University	SPOT 2	Purdue University Solar Racing
Queen's University Canada	Radiance  Gemini	Queen's Solar Vehicle Team
Red River College	Red River Raycer	Red River College Solar Car Team
Rice University		Rice University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology		Rose-Hulman Solar Car Team
Southern Illinois Uni Edwardsville	Cougar Cruiser	Southern Illinois University
South Bank University, UK	Mad Dog	South Bank Mad Dog Team
South Dakota School Mines & Tech	Solar Motion	South Dakota Solar Motion Team
Southern Taiwan University Tech		Southern Taiwan Solar Team
Stanford University	Solstice	Stanford Solar Car Project
Tamagawa University - Japan		Tamagawa Solar Challenge Project
Team Futura, Italy	FUTURA 2	Team Futura
Team SunLake - Japan	Phaethon model	Team SunLake TOYOBO
Texas A&M University	Columbia Sunraycer	Texas A&M Motorsports Team
The Power of One  - Toronto	Xof1	The Xof1 solar car team
Tufts University	ANNE E. B. II	Nerd Girls
University of Alberta		University of Alberta Team
University of Arizona	Drifter	Solar Racing Team
University of Calgary		UC Calgary Solar Car Team
University of California-Berkeley	CalSol	California Calsol Team
University of Kansas	Solution, CATalyst	KSU Solar Car Racing Team
University of Kentucky	Gato del Sol II	Solar Car Team
University of Massachusetts	Spirit of Mass 413	Lowell Solar Racing Team
University of Michigan	Momentum	University of Michigan
University of Minnesota	Borealis III	U of M Solar Vehicle Project
University of Missouri -  Columbia	Suntiger VI	The Mizzou Solar Car Project
University of Missouri -  Rolla	Solar Miner V	Solar Minor Car Team
University of North Dakota	Subzero 3	Team SubZero
University of Ontario Institute of Tech		UOI Solar Vehicle Team
Uni of New South Wales SCR Team	UNSW Sunswift III	New South Wales SCR Team
University of Patras, Hermes		Solar Car Team
University of Pennsylvania	Keystone	Penn Solar Racing
University of Queensland	Sunshark	Queensland Solar Team
University of South Australia	Ned  KELLY	SA Solar Car Consortium
University of Texas at Austin	Solar Steer	Solar Vehicles Team
University of Texas at El Paso		Solraycers
University of Toronto	Blue Sky	Blue Sky Solar Racing
University of Toulouse	Heliotrope	Heliotrope Solar Car Team
University of Utah		Vehicle Design Team Utah
University of Virginia		UVa Solar Car Team
University of Waterloo	Midnight Sun VIII	Midnight Sun Solar Race Team
University of Western Ontario	Sunstang	Sunstang USP Solar Car Team
USP Solar Car Team		USP Solar Car Team
Western Michigan University	Sunseeker 05	W Michigan Solar Car Team
Yale University	The John Lee	Team Lux